Saralli Caira High
by Mez10000
Summary: For many young people, their journey into the world of Pokemon seems not to be possible. However, when they get admitted to the best school on their island, things seem to be looking up. Can they survive school life? And will they ever leave their island?
1. Prolouge: Secrets?

This story is dedicated to all my real life Pokemaniac friends!

I don't own Pokemon, Nintendo does. I don't own Nintendo (however much I wish!)

* * *

It all began on a quiet, almost sluggish Monday morning in the sleepy little town of Saralli. It was a well-hidden town, on a small island to the southeast of the Kanto region. The island tended to be tropically warm all throughout the year – no one born on the island could ever remember it snowing. It was difficult to get to the mainland, and thus, it was difficult for new trainers to go on their customary travels of the world.

The solution? A series of schools for new trainers strung over the island, where battles could be arranged easily and support given. And the most prestigious of these was Saralli Caira High. As the widely agreed best school on the island, they had the largest grounds, most modern interiors and, perhaps most importantly for new trainers, the widest selection of new Pokèmon.

Most trainers only got a choice from the twelve standard starter Pokèmon, but here, they had a wide selection of their very first companions…if they could pass the entrance exam…

However, for those that had passed, this day would be one they'd never forget…

In a darkened room, one such girl lay curled in a nest of a duvet, her wildly wavy brown hair fanning out across the pillow. A loud caw sounded outside the window, yet still she slept, dreaming deeply of her partner to be…

A canine form scratched repeatedly at the girl's door, but she made no reply but to turn over in her slumber. The pet Growlithe opened the door, and spotting his mistress' weak spot, nudged her exposed, dangling arm. She woke immediately.

"Tani!" she shouted.

Why a fire-type should have such a _cold_ nose was beyond her…

Tani wagged her short tail, happily glancing up at the human angrily glaring at her. The girl seemed to understand that there was some deeper meaning behind this rather than Tani's usual wake up prank.

"Huh…oh, wait, I start Saralli Caira today, don't I?" she realised with a sudden jolt of understanding.

Tani barked in agreement, nodding her head.

The girl bolted out of bed, quickly throwing clothes out of her wardrobe in an attempt to find something to wear. Saralli Caira had no uniform, so students had free reign over their appearance.

One pair of jeans and a baggy black t-shirt later, the young girl was downstairs, eating cereal at a record speed.

"Arianrhod," her mother started disapprovingly.

Arianrhod only stopped for a second to glare at her mother before shovelling cereal in again.

"Aria, I had Tani wake you up with plenty of time to spare – you aren't going to be late if you eat breakfast like any civilised human being…"

On any normal day, Aria might have responded that it was somewhat hypocritical of her mother to comment, as she never ate herself. However, she felt far too excited and full of nerves to start that again…

Her mother kept hiding things from her. Trivial things really, but important in their tiny way. Like, as far as Aria knew, her mother didn't sleep, and certainly didn't eat. But perhaps most important to her – she hardly ever saw her father. The problem was, Arianrhod didn't even _know _why she rarely saw her father. As far as she knew, her mother and father loved each other and wouldn't even contemplate separation, but she only ever saw him once a month, at most…

The only things Aria knew for certain was her mother's name, Nia Jones, and the fact that she had an affinity for fire-type Pokèmon. Tani was just one of quite a few – Nia also had a Houndoom, Rapidash and Flareon.

As Aria finished her breakfast, yet another mystery stuck her head around Nia's shoulder. She was a small, knee-high, pale lilac dragon, unlike any Pokèmon that Aria had ever heard of. A couple of times, she got the sense it was talking to her mum, from the small nods and smiles Nia sometimes gave for no apparent reason.

This was one of those times, which was quickly masked by Nia saying, "So, _plant_, looking forward to school?"

Nia often mixed foreign words in her speech, but Aria, used to this, at least, didn't mind. Because her mum and dad - when he _was _around - had spoken this language to her when she was little, she felt she could speak it well.

Aria frowned at being called a child, but nodded all the same. Then, with a lot of courage, she asked, "Mum…where's Dad?"

Nia's face fell. "He'll be here when you get back home, promise."

"But, where is he now?"

Nia sighed. "I'll tell you when you get home – it'll give you something to look forward to."

"But…"

"Come on, Aria. It'd take too long to explain, and you don't want to be late on your first day, do you?"

Aria looked at the clock and almost had a heart attack. "I could have sworn it's only been a few minutes! I've got to go – bye Mum! ...And don't think I'll forget this!"

Once Nia's daughter was safely out the door, the small dragon gave a semblance of a chuckle. While Aria had been distracted by talking, he'd put the clock forward to make her think she was late…

Nia gave the small dragon an absent-minded pat on the head. "Seren, she's grown up so fast… It's about time she knew everything…"

* * *

By the way, the 'foreign language' is Welsh and Nia is an OC that I've used in other fandoms, but I will explain everything in this 'fic, so you don't_ have _to read my other fanfics (however, if you feel like making me very happy, go ahead!)

Please review - even if it's only one word!


	2. The First Day: Part 1

Anyway, this is the first _real _chapter, so, enjoy!

I don't own Pokemon... (starts to cry)

* * *

A beautiful day in Saralli – the hot sun poured down onto tropical palm trees and small stone cottages. Aria, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her bare arms was walking hastily to a huge building barely ten minutes from her house, lest she be late for her first day in her new school.

Saralli Caira…no one spoke ill of it. While the buildings were large, modern and spacious, they were nothing compared to the grounds. They had been specially constructed to attract the widest variety of Pokèmon possible. So, while there were meadows of luscious green grass dotted with wildflowers, there were also cool leafy forests, dry sandy beaches, still ponds and ferociously wild rivers.

As Aria entered the grounds for herself, she both confirmed and added to the stories she'd been told – stories of a haven for Pokèmon and trainers alike, stories of untamed, wild beauty existing side by side with humans…

But it was all so quiet…where were the other trainers? Aria knew it was an exclusive school – it only took on roughly twenty pupils a year – sometimes less than that – but she felt it was…_too _quiet… Glancing at her Pokètech watch, she realised the clock at home must have been very early – according to hers, she hadn't even left the house yet!

Still, the beauty around her stopped her from being angry, so she explored the grounds. She wandered through a shady forest, following a shallow, pebbly stream down to a pond in the forest's clearing. She was so absorbed in the beautiful sights that, for a brief second, didn't notice she was no longer alone.

"Excuse me, but would you mind being quiet?" said a low, male voice steeped in politeness.

Aria whirled around to see a boy barely a year older than her, with a sleek Furret nestled against his feet.

"Not that you were being loud to begin with, but I thought it best to warn you. You see, I'm looking for a timid Pokèmon which only appears near here first thing in the morning and I wouldn't want you to frighten any away."

"Okay, I'll be quiet," Aria agreed in a low tone. "Is it usual for other people to be here this early?"

The boy thought a moment. "It depends on the time of year, and how dedicated people are. I couldn't imagine me arriving late or just in time, but I suppose there are many people who can't imagine arriving as early as we are now."

Aria got the impression that this boy, whoever he was, was a deep thinker.

"I almost forgot, what's your name? I'm Latto, and my friend here is Bandit," Latto introduced, gesturing at the Furret.

"I'm Arianrhod…but _please_, call me Aria."

"Not fond of long names?"

"Seriously, if you had a name that long, would you like it?"

Latto paused. "True – I think my father was thinking of calling me Benjamin…I'm glad my mother had more sense…"

Aria nodded in sympathetic agreement.

"So, what Pokèmon are you looking for?" Aria asked curiously.

"Surskit. Last time I was here, I saw one, but it fled before I had the chance to capture it."

Now, Aria was really warming up to the boy, and her curiosity overwhelmed any shyness left in her.

"What kind of trainer are you, then?"

"I like to see myself as a contest goer – I've only been to a few, but they really interest me, and once, Bandit managed to get second. What do you think you'll be?"

"I don't really know. I think I'd be quite a good battler, I can keep a cool head, but still be passionate about battles…"

"Did you find the entrance exam easy?" Latto asked suddenly.

Aria was stunned into telling the truth, "Y…Yes."

She then scolded herself – she'd lied to everyone who'd wondered, saying it was hard, and she'd barely got a place, so she didn't look bigheaded. But now, the truth was out – she couldn't take it back now.

Latto smiled kindly. "Don't worry, that makes two of us. If that's the case, you'll go far in this school. Saralli Caira specialises in helping people make the most of themselves and abilities."

Aria was about to reply to this, but was silenced by Latto's finger rather uncomfortably near her lips. For a second, Aria was puzzled, but after a moment, she realised the reason Latto was acting like that.

There must be a Surskit nearby!

Aria scanned the bushes frantically to gain a glimpse of the Pokèmon before simply realising that she could just follow Latto's gaze. And sure enough, Latto, gazing warily at the pond's edge was staring straight at the small pond skater Pokèmon.

"Bandit, go!" Latto suddenly said.

The Furret became a small blur as he charged at the Surskit. Taken by surprise, the blue Pokèmon merely jumped back and narrowly avoided Bandit's claws. Bandit bounded around the Surskit as it blew a powerful stream of bubbles at him.

"Bandit, keep dodging, wear him down slowly," Latto commanded confidently.

The Furret nimbly dodged all of the Surskit's futile attacks, bounding around almost as if it were a game he was playing. His fur was glossy and shone slightly in the sunlight.

"Bandit, scratch!"

Obediently, he whirled round lashing out at the small Pokèmon with his claws. It was a direct hit that left the Surskit reeling.

"Keep at it, Bandit!"

The Furret bit and scraped the Surskit until it barely knew how to stand.

"Okay, good job!" Latto praised happily, tossing a Pokèball.

It engulfed the insect in a burst of red light before snapping shut. The closed ball wobbled slightly, making both humans grit their teeth in determination. It kept rocking – Aria thought it'd never settle down, until finally…

"It's stopped," Latto said numbly. Then, as it sunk in… "Yes! I caught a Surskit!"

"Well done – that was amazing!" Aria said, eyes wide in wonder. "I've never seen a battle like that before!"

"You will do, here. There's a guy here, a year older than me – pretty odd looking, but he can definitely battle. In two years he's become the best here – even some of the teachers can't beat him – and he's set his sights on becoming a champion!"

"Even the teachers can't beat him?.." Aria wondered, awestruck.

"You'll see soon enough – though he's good, he's also a show off. Anyway, I'm going to go to the main building to heal this little guy," Latto announced, brandishing the Surskit's Pokèball proudly.

"I'll come with you."

And so the two strolled across the grounds, towards the tall, gleaming central building. Aria realised that while the grounds were large and well spread out, it would be quite difficult to get lost in the school. From the main gate, there was a stone paved path straight to the building, which was central to the whole grounds. Surrounding the building was mostly flat, lusciously grassy land, which was only broken by a tiny winding stream – small enough to step over, in any case.

To the North of the building was some rocky, dusty terrain. Unfortunately, it rained too often to be considered a desert, but it was hot most of the time, and water drained quickly through the sand. To the East were the forests, rivers and ponds where Aria and Latto had just come from, and to the West was where the grounds met the shore – the soft, sandy beach with the warm salty sea beating against it.

Aria would grow to know these lands well over the next few months, along with the other new trainers, but for now, she was content to merely be in awe of Latto's knowledge of the place. It was almost as if he knew every blade of grass personally, the way he picked through, finding the shortest way back using landmarks like a slightly odd shaped lichen on a tree trunk, or a particularly rare flower…

When they got to the building – which hardly seemed to take any time, yet Aria had been walking for half an hour without realising it – Aria was somewhat disappointed. All this natural beauty outside seemed to leave the inside with a cold, neutral hospital feeling to it.

"Don't worry," Latto assured, sensing her disappointment. "Very few of your lessons will be taught indoors. For all that the teachers say, this is just a glorified Pokèmon Centre – it heals, it has a library, it serves food, it stores things that people may need storing, but you'll be spending as much time as possible outside, I promise you."

Aria nodded absentmindedly – at any other time, she'd have been really interested, but she'd just seen some other, older trainers, and they were so puzzling that they completely bewildered her. One in particular looked very odd…

He, for the figure was definitely male, was covered in smooth, pale blue skin. His head didn't have hair, like a human's, but ended in a…it could only be described as a fin, really, but it wasn't anything like a fish Pokèmon's fin, it was long, like an Ekans' tail, except infinitely more elegant and smooth, and ended in a fork. There was something more human about his face though – while the smooth cheekbones belonged to the slightly fish-like side of him, his keen eyes and heavy brow could have only been human, as was his rounded ears.

Aria got a strong impression of water just by looking at him. The problem was, with looking so strange, she expected him to wear something as odd. As it was, he was wearing normal, baggy, teenage clothes, which only went to highlight how strange he looked.

Latto chuckled. "That's who I was talking about earlier, his name's Haru."

Aria turned round. "What, _he's_ the guy who can beat the teachers?"

Latto nodded solemnly.

"What does he use? Water types? And what kind of style and-"

Latto cut off her excited ramblings with a small shake of the head.

"You'll find out soon enough. Besides, it would be politer to ask him yourself," Latto told the young girl, while handing the Pokèball containing his Surskit over the counter to get it healed.

Aria's eyes were wide – the last thing on her mind was to actually talk to this person! He was all weird and…fish-like…he might not even speak her language!

Latto, observantly noting the shyness manifested in Aria, along with the natural human reaction of shunning anyone physically different, called Haru over. Aria couldn't help but notice with guilty discomfort the effortless ease in which he walked – at first, she'd almost been fooled into thinking he'd stumble and flounder like a fish out of water.

"Haru, this is Aria – she's one of the newbies," Latto informed him.

Haru took a small glance at her before replying. "Are you sure she's come to the right place? She looks a little too _scared _to be a true Pokèmon trainer…"

Aria's pride and indignation swallowed her cowardice whole. "What did you just say? I'll have you know that this is all a very new experience for me and I was just startled!"

A moment passed in which the two boys absorbed the strangeness of the remark. Then they burst out laughing – Haru's laugh sounding bubbly and conjuring the image of a fast flowing river churning against the rocks in it's path. Aria, suddenly self-conscious and realising how stupid her defence had sounded, turned red.

"You know what, kid? You might just have what it takes to get good here," Haru remarked. "Although, you'll _never_ beat me in a battle."

"What makes you so confident that you won't lose?" Aria asked boldly.

"Kid, you haven't got a Pokèmon yet, and already you're giving me trainer backchat. But, I'll answer your question anyway. I have my family's reputation to uphold – I promised myself that I'd become the best in the world, for my father's memory. You think you can compete with that?"

Aria smiled confident now. "Of course. I have a great family name resting on my shoulders, too."

Aria remembered the words she had often been told as a child in that language that her parents had spoken. A language no one else could seem to speak. So now, she repeated them, in a tongue they could all speak.

"My homeland is that of the red dragon – my family name is Jones…"

The words, while sounding impressive, had little effect on Latto, but Haru stopped, frowning.

"You're quite sure?"

"That's what I've always been told…"

Haru gained some slight understanding at this. "My father hailed from that same land, a cold, damp and hilly place…Sometime, Aria Jones, I would like to meet your parents…tell them the name Atkinson – they'll understand…"

And strangely, Haru walked off without another word.

"What?" Aria questioned – but Latto was as much in the dark as she was.

From above came the melodic chime of a bell.

"Aria, it's been nice meeting you, but I'll have to leave now. I'll see you around."

"Wait, where am I supposed to go?"

"Just stay here – the other new trainers will arrive eventually and some member of staff will explain everything after that."

Latto disappeared down a corridor, and Aria was left quite alone in the blank room, quiet except for the hum of several computers. A few lonely minutes dragged by, and Aria started to wonder if this was some kind of bad joke. Eventually, though, children her age arrived, either alone or in twos or threes.

Aria, although quite shy by nature, forced herself to talk to some of the lone arrivals while they waited. She met two girls with mystical, glittering violet eyes, one called Tegeirian and the other called Rhiannon. Aria felt a kinship with them – they, too, had long names that no one had ever heard of, and preferred them shortened to Tegg and Nannon. Another girl whom she met introduced herself as Wraith, and she had shiny silver hair with deep, almost glowing green eyes.

In fact, alongside many of these people, she felt quite drab. Before, she'd seen her thick, multi-toned brown hair something to be quite proud of – in certain lights it appeared blonde, in others it appeared light to mid brown, in yet another light it could appear auburn and on a couple of occasions it had looked slightly ginger. Aria's eyes were nothing special though, a mixture of muddy brown and mossy green with charcoal-like flecks.

Before a teacher entered the room, she'd met a few more people – a boy called Sieg, who, like Latto, seemed rather polite yet had an intelligent air that was slightly intimidating; and a boy called Zero, a randomly hyper boy who seemed to go on about penguins armed with oranges who would take over the world…

An intimidating, powerful figure of a teacher stood before them, silencing the timid conversations with confident ease. Everyone in the room knew instinctively – this was a figure to be obeyed unquestioningly and they wouldn't have dared defy her. For this incredibly powerful figure _was_ female.

She told them her name was Mrs Griffiths, but no one in that room would possibly call her by her name. She would be known simply as, The Griff.

She explained that this was a school of high quality, that the pupils future's would carry the school's reputation and thus, they should make choices wisely, as their choice not only reflects on themselves, but also on the school. She went on like this for many long, boring minutes, speaking of things that had no real interest or value in the real world, and naturally, the children sank into a stupor. It possibly didn't help that they were still standing, and standing as still as humanly possible, so before the talk was over, their legs ached.

Suddenly, a fresh, vibrant voice took over. The voice belonged to a smiling face with short brown hair and dark eyes. His voice instantly shook the children out of their daze.

"Now, I know you're all keen to get your first Pokèmon, guys. But before you do, I'd like to tell you something. By the way, I'm Mr. Reese, and I teach Communications. But you'll learn more about that later!

"Inside the main hall are many different varieties of Pokèmon. They are all under a month old, so they will grow and learn along with you. The Pokèmon you choose today will be your constant companion for many years to come, so do not take this choice lightly. Take a lot of thought and consideration into it. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers."

The man – Mr. Reese – clapped his hands. "Right then, I think we'll have you first," he said, pointing at Aria.

"Why me?"

"You arrived first, it's only fair that you get first pick."

Aria moved, dumbstruck, through an indicated corridor to find a pair of double doors. She numbly, but carefully, pushed them open to find a myriad of Pokèmon, all different sizes, shapes and colours. She felt overwhelmed – she hadn't got nearly enough eyes to see all of them, yet all of them were watching her curiously. She'd prefer that they looked away or minded their own business or something, because it was starting to unnerve her and make her self-conscious.

The girl kneeled on the floor, to get closer to the Pokèmon. They crowded round curiously, jostling each other to catch a glimpse of her. Aria couldn't speak their language, but she seemed to be able to _feel _the whispers travelling the room – no doubt the subject being herself.

How was she meant to choose? It seemed so difficult… Of course she'd spent all summer contemplating her first Pokèmon, but now the time had arrived, she realised that she never had decided.

Luckily, her Pokèmon was going to help decide for her. At first, the shy creature had hid in the corner of the room, not wanting to be chosen at all, but curiosity had caused her to gaze at the human when she'd entered. When the girl had kneeled, the creature almost went to get a closer look, but then scolded herself. She didn't _want _to be some trainer's warrior, she wanted to be wild and free…the problem was, the girl looked like the type of person who would live like that…

As the doubt grazed in the back of her mind, her brother nudged her. _'She looks just right for you, sis. Why don't you go over?'_

'_What if she's not the right person?'_

'_What if she is?'_ her brother argued back.

She knew her brother was right and uncurled herself from her corner to get closer to the human girl. She smelled…woodsy. Clean, but with a slight aroma of bark that a human could never hope to pick up with their noses. Her wide eyes took in the human's appearance, from the solidly built frame to the practical clothes she wore.

As the human turned and looked her in the eye, they both gave a little gasp of shock. It was as if a small spark had sprung between them, connecting them. They didn't know why, but they understood it. Aria offered out her hand, and the Pokèmon wound round it and up her arm.

"I choose you, Dratini," she whispered gently.

* * *

Okay, sorry but I won't be able to update for a week - I'm going to a place without Internet connection, but I'll still be writing.

Please give me some lovely reviews to welcome me back home!


	3. The First Day: Part 2

The first day, part 2! And what chaos will spring up this chapter?

I don't own Pokèmon, and I barely own many of the characters – most of them are based on real people!

* * *

"_I choose you, Dratini," she whispered gently._

And the Dratini nuzzled against her shoulder – so this was what it was like to have a trainer? So blissfully happy and content? Why had she ever fought it?

Neither of them noticed or remembered going out of the room, nor being told to sit down and wait for Aria's fellow classmates.

Aria spoke softly to the small dragon, sensing its reserved nature. "Do you want a name? It'd just feel weird to me to call you Dratini all the time. My whole family uses names, so…I'm just used to it, I suppose."

The dragon nodded, before attempting to say something. Aria could just feel the communication, but couldn't understand the words. After a few minutes of straining, she ventured a guess.

"Draigas? Is that your name?"

She nodded; content pouring off her in waves, making the human smile.

Suddenly, the next new trainer entered the room – Seig, with an overjoyed Eevee nestled in his arms. Aria went over to greet them.

"I met you earlier – sorry, I'm not too good with names – Seig, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that's right. You were…Aria? Anyway, you haven't met my new partner, Willow."

The Eevee gave a happy purr.

"This is Draigas," Aria introduced.

Draigas went to peer closer at the fox-like creature, but Willow backed away shyly, pressing herself closer to Seig's chest. Draigas suddenly froze and shuddered – something seemed wrong about the Eevee, something terrible that went against all Pokèmon nature… She just didn't know what, but wound herself around her new trainer for reassurance.

Aria knew something must be wrong, but there was no way the dragon could communicate it to her. To her, Willow seemed to be shy, but nothing else – nothing completely out of the ordinary. For a second, she saw a flash of guilt in Seig's eyes, but it was gone so quickly, she wasn't even sure it had been there in the first place.

Another new trainer came in through the door – the one whose rant on orange wielding penguins had made Aria laugh. He also had a Dratini, whom Draigas rushed to meet in a happy state. After a few minutes of them communicating – which none of the children understood – Aria picked out a word her Pokèmon had said in such obvious distaste it had stood out from the conversation.

"Zippo?"

"Yeah, that's what I called him," the boy, Zero, announced.

"Zippo?" the other two asked in disbelief.

"How could you subject a poor innocent Dratini to a name like 'Zippo'?!" Aria asked incredulously.

"Hey, it's a cool name!" Zero protested.

Zippo, the unfortunately named Dratini, snorted derisively – obviously he didn't think so either.

This vein of conversation was halted by the next trainer coming in. Namely, Wraith, the one with the unnaturally silver hair – and she had chosen another Eevee. This one seemed to prefer her shoulder as a perch, though.

"Hi, everyone! Meet Sirius!" she said smiling.

"See, Sirius; a decent name. As in, not 'Zippo'!" Aria pointed out.

Her remark made Seig smile and Zippo laugh. Draigas came back to her trainer and wound herself gently around the human's arm again. Aria didn't realise it, but she was comparing the two Eevees in the room, and found that there was something oddly different about Willow, although she couldn't place what it was…

"By the way, did you see the Neko-jin earlier?" Wraith asked.

"Who?"

"There's a girl who introduces herself as Ebony Neko-jin. She was next in line after me, so she should be out soon…"

Ironically enough, the girl came into the room at that moment, a cute Vulpix at her heels. She had fluffy black hair and brown eyes and at first, that seemed to be all of notice about her. Then, Aria noticed the pair of jet-black cat ears on her head, and an elegantly swishing, feline, black tail sweeping the floor.

The Vulpix nudged her forward, persuading her to join us. She seemed rather shy – by now, the children and Pokèmon were quite a sizeable group and got on well, so it seemed natural that someone could find it hard to approach them, especially if that person wasn't…quite normal.

"Hello," Aria greeted warmly. "Who's your partner?"

"Phoenix…"

Completely overshadowing the quiet Ebony was the next new arrival. This girl didn't look odd or weird – she radiated it. From the large Tropius by her side to her loud greeting, the whole group knew instantly that if she was around, peace and quiet would be the last thing planned. Apparently, her name was Pasqua and the Tropius was named Dashita.

By now, the hall was filling up quickly, and the new trainers were coming in faster and faster.

Rhiannon, with the small black Poochena pup, Layla; Tegeirian with Naga, the elegant Ekans and Rydia with a small Zubat called Jet all came in. For a few minutes the children thought that they were last of the trainers, until a series of loud crashes came from the Pokèmon filled room.

They crowded around the door, curious to see the source of the noise, but a blue blur rolled past them at a high speed, followed by a battered and bruised boy. He limped slightly, a result of the blue blur colliding with his leg, they later learned.

"I'm Fossil…and this is Rolo," he panted.

The blur rolled behind him and uncurled itself, revealing itself to be a Panphy. Many of the girls 'aww'-ed at the tiny elephant as it raised its trunk in salute.

The children now knew that everyone had chosen their Pokèmon, as the friendly teacher from before – Mr. Reese – came to talk to them. He was standing on a balcony high up in the room, with a Persian curled around his feet, gazing languidly, yet oddly keenly at the children and their Pokèmon.

"I'm glad to see that you have all had a chance to know each other and I hope you make some good friends. I would like to explain now how Saralli Caira works. This is a small school, and as you know, highly exclusive. Because we are so few in number, we don't split you into classes, or years. The whole school is taught as a whole.

"At first, you may find it difficult, as there are trainers here with up to four more years of experience than you currently have. But we feel it gives you something to strive for. We also find that the older students learn from being around inexperienced trainers and their mistakes, so don't be afraid to get things wrong. Are there any questions?"

When no one raised his or her hand, Mr. Reese directed their attention to the person now entering the room. Aria instantly recognised him as Haru – he was unmistakeable anywhere, really, with his pale blue skin and fins.

"This is currently our strongest trainer in school – Haru Hearts. He won't mind being challenged if you feel the need to attempt to beat him, however I would advise training for a long time beforehand."

Haru smirked up at the teacher. "Why not tell them to give up? After all, if I can beat _you_…"

The children gasped collectively – a pupil being better than a teacher just seemed unimaginable. Even Aria, remembering that Latto had said that Haru had beaten some of the teachers, was shocked.

Mr. Reese went red and coughed. "Yes, well, I'll let you do the teaching in future, Haru," he said sarcastically.

However, Haru took his words literally, and addressed the congregation.

"My advice to you is find what you're good at and stick with it. Every trainer has their own style. And know when you're beat before you start, kids. It saves you a lot of time. And if anyone wants to challenge me…I'll be in the coliseum, where there's a crowd to watch me kick your ass!"

"Haru, that's enough. Can you lead them outside and show them around?"

"No problem. Kids, follow me!"

Half the crowd were fuming over constantly being called kids, but were following him anyway. Aria, with Draigas wound around her neck, ran to catch up with him.

"Haru! What the heck did you mean earlier? What do you know about my family that I don't?" she asked, walking quickly by his side.

"You mean your mother hasn't told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Your family legacy. Seriously, your parents must have said something…"

"About what?" Aria almost shouted in frustration.

"Ask your mother."

"I'm asking you!"

"Trust me, you'll want her to tell you."

By now, they were outside in the open air, and Haru addressed the small crowd.

"Now, kids, I'm supposed to tell you how things work here. You'll spend most of your time outside – every morning you'll have a few hours to do anything you need to outside, like training, catching new Pokèmon or having a battle. If your Pokèmon get seriously injured, depending on how close you are, you can get them healed here, in this main building.

"The main building has a Pokèmon centre, feeding hall, library and a lecture hall – that's where you'll have any classes. And if you look on the roof of the building," Haru pointed to guide the children's eyes, "you can see the coliseum. We have a tournament four times a year, but when they aren't on, you can use it for personal battles. Some people also go there to observe battles and watch other people's mistakes. Any questions?"

When no one raised their hand – either out of lack of questions or the fact that this blue skinned person was just too weird for them – he gave a smirk.

"Some of the teachers here are pure evil, by the way, they just act normal around the new kids. I'd stay away from Mr Harrier and Mrs Pierce…and Mrs Genwyn."

Strangely, Haru turned to Aria and said in a low tone, "Especially you."

"Huh? Why?"

"Get your mother to tell you – just stay away from Genwyn and don't tell her your name. Make it up if you have to."

"What? I demand some answers!"

"Demand all you want – if you can't beat me in a battle, I have no reason to have to tell you."

"Fine, then! I challenge you to a battle!"

"Brave, kid, but not too smart. But, why not? Show these other kids a real battle!"

Draigas unwound herself and floated just off the ground, giving a dragon's growl in anticipation of the battle. Haru threw a red and white Pokèball into the air and in a flash of red light, a Floatzel appeared.

"Floatzel, let's make this quick, alright?"

Floatzel roared at the serpentine dragon, and the enormity of the battle dawned on Aria.

"Come on, Draigas, we can do this!" Aria shouted with mock confidence.

Aria's heart was pounding with adrenaline and the children around cheered – although she couldn't hear them. Her world ended outside the small battlefield.

"Floatzel, dig!" Haru commanded.

The otter-like Pokèmon burrowed under the ground.

"Draigas, fly as high as possible!" Aria called in a concerned voice.

The Dratini floated high as the Floatzel burst out of the ground.

"Ice beam, Floatzel!"

An orb of icy white gathered at the Floatzel's mouth, and Aria felt a surge of panic. She knew all too well that dragons were weak against ice, and she also knew Draigas was an easy target in the sky. There was no time to react – the beam shot out of the Floatzel's mouth and hit the small dragon squarely in the neck.

With a weak cry, Draigas fell through the air – Aria rushed forward and caught her, running towards the main building. She was crying – how could she have been so stupid to let Draigas get hurt like that? Just because of her ego…

In the main building, she took a better look at the battered and bruised dragon. She was feebly chirping, her eyes barely open.

"Hello! Is there anyone there? Please, I need your help – my Pokèmon is badly injured!" Aria shouted desperately, but her voice merely echoed around the cold, empty room without any reply.

"Please!" she pleaded, tears streaming down her eyes.

A woman with straight, shoulder-length hair and a kindly face stepped into the room, took one look at the injured Dratini and launched into action. She scooped Draigas out of Aria's arms taking it behind a counter, through which was a doorway to a room filled with medical looking equipment.

Aria craned her neck, trying to see where Draigas was, but she'd been taken into this room, beyond view. After a few minutes, the woman came back.

"How is she?" Aria asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine, although she won't be in any battles for a day or two. What were you thinking, taking on Haru on your first day?"

Aria went red, her eyes shot down to the floor and she almost started crying again.

"You heard about it, then?"

"Taken down in two moves…Haru went easy on you. He could have easily ended it in the first five seconds. That Floatzel was holding back, too…he must have taken pity on your Dratini…"

Aria choked on her tears – she could never forgive herself for this… "I was really stupid, wasn't I?"

"That depends on if you're planning on doing it again anytime soon," the woman answered.

"No! Of course not!"

Aria trembled at the thought of putting Draigas through that again.

"Then you aren't completely stupid. A good trainer learns from their mistakes."

The woman thought a while, before realising, "How silly of me – you don't know my name! I'm Mrs. Hurtz and I teach theory, as well as heal Pokèmon."

"My name's Arianrhod…can I see Draigas?"

"Of course, come here."

Mrs. Hurtz led the young trainer into the sterile, white room. All the surfaces were clean, shiny chrome, and on one of them lay Draigas, tightly curled up, asleep. She woke slightly when she heard the two humans, slowly opening an eye and inching towards Aria.

"No, you don't have to move," she whispered, but the dragon continued to painstakingly make her way to her trainer.

"Oh, Draigas, I'm so sorry…I was so stupid back there! I don't deserve to be a trainer!" Aria apologised tearfully.

Draigas nudged the girl's hand, telling her as best the dragon could that she didn't blame her trainer.

"Draigas should be able to move properly in ten minutes or so," Mrs Hurtz informed the trainer.

"What? So soon?"

"I've given her some fast-acting medicine, and most Pokèmon are naturally tough and fast healing. It probably would take you a week to recover from a similar hit."

"Wow…I never realised just how amazing Pokèmon are… If you don't mind me asking, what Pokèmon do you have, Miss?" Aria wondered.

"A Roselia, called Juliet; a Chansey, Leanne; and my first – my Clefairy, named Blossom. I'd introduce you to them, but you'll met them sometime…probably in battle."

"What? But…"

"That'll be your end of year exam – using your whole team to take on one of the teachers and one of their Pokèmon."

"Wow…that seems so daunting…"

"Well, you can have up to six against one, so it isn't too hard – you just need to have a strategy ready. Hardly anyone has ever failed the end of year exams, so I wouldn't worry…"

Aria kept quiet, secretly thinking that she was likely to fail and be one of those select people… Draigas sensed this and slowly wound herself onto her trainer's arm, trying to reassure her. Aria knew this and gave a half-smile in response.

"Stop trying to strain yourself, Draigas," she whispered.

Draigas made a melodic noise at her; it was soft and soothing, yet slightly reproachful. It was almost as if to say, _'Have more faith in me, and yourself. See, I'm fine now.'_

Aria offered her hand and it got nudged in a playful gesture.

"She should be alright to move around now, as long as she doesn't strain herself," Mrs Hurtz said.

"Really?"

"Yes. Just keep her out of battles until tomorrow, and I'll take another look at her then. If you're lucky, you should be able to battle then."

"Thank you, Miss!"

"It was no problem - it's my job, and it was a delight talking to you. But can I ask something of you?"

"What?"

"Train really hard, and beat that Haru. He's getting overconfident – he'll think he owns the school next! I'd just like someone to put him in his place."

"But you said…"

"I said that you should train first before challenging him. Not to mention that he has whatever battling tips and knowledge built up from just being in this school for two years and you don't, yet. But you will do soon, especially if you keep your eyes and ears open. Just because it's not you making the mistake doesn't mean you can't learn from it."

"Wow…well, I'll try my best," Aria pledged bravely.

"Now go on outside, Draigas is definitely alright to move, and it's almost time to go home."

"Thank you," Aria said, bowing her head slightly in respect, before dashing out the door, Draigas wound around her neck.

From a glance up at the quickly forming clouds, it'd start raining fairly soon. The children were in a loose group, saying their goodbyes before the melodic chime of the bell told them to go home.

Mr Reese addressed the crowd briefly before they left. "By the way, there are optional lessons in understanding what your Pokèmon is saying – these are after school, tomorrow, in fact, so if you're interested, remember to tell your parents! And I'll see you all tomorrow!"

And Aria started the short walk home, bursting with excitement. The first day hadn't all been good, but she was now a Pokèmon trainer, and no one could tell her otherwise!

* * *

Please review! You can have a digital cookie! (holds plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies) 


	4. The End To Secrets?

I always have to be listening to something while typing, so this chapter was written under the steam of Linkin Park, Green Day, and…a Disney compilation CD…a _very _odd mixture…Anyway, a lot more on Aria's family this chapter (yes, the other characters will have more appearances, but I need to get this out the way first!)

Oh, Haru? You're staying a 'fishy freak' for good. So stop complaining. It makes you unique.

I don't own Pokèmon (Or Legend of Zelda…)

* * *

The skies turned grey rapidly, with the sudden ferociousness that only a tropical storm can seem to muster. Cold, fat droplets lashed down from the endless grey expanse, drenching all that hadn't sought shelter. One such person was Aria – on her way home from her first day at Saralli Caira High.

The strong wind whistled round her, chilling her and sending her hair tossing wildly. She had decided to run the short distance back home, rather than wait for the storm to blow over, which may take several hours. Draigas tailed her happily – apparently the slim, serpentine dragon enjoyed the rain.

Eventually, Aria burst inside, out of the rain and into her warm, dry house. She stood inside the porch for a while, catching her breath as she shed her wet shoes and her small bag by the door. She was about to go into the kitchen – where her mum was bound to be waiting – when she heard voices inside, and paused out of curiosity.

She knew the importance of being quiet when spying on her mum – it had been a constant, yet unsuccessful hobby of hers when she had been younger. This had armed her with the knowledge that her mother and father could hear far better than any other human Aria knew. So, she knew to hardly breathe, and to hope that they were far too engrossed in the conversation to notice her.

There were three voices – her mother's, a loud, yet restrained alto; a deep melodic male voice that she barely recognised, much to her embarrassment, as her father's; and another female voice Aria didn't know. They were speaking in the foreign language that Aria had thought she knew well, but the were speaking so far and fluently that she was straining to recognise any words. She heard her name a few times, as well as 'celwydd' – lies.

Her mum sounded more and more distressed the longer the conversation went on for, while her father and the other woman were calmly speaking back. Eventually, the speech halted, as the other woman pointed out – in the language they were all fluent in: "Nia, your daughter's come in."

Aria froze – this woman, it seemed, could hear as well as her parents, except she hadn't been as engrossed in the conversation as the other two. She only moved when invited in, but the sight of her father revived her fully. She ran to him, giving him a big hug.

"I missed you, Dad!" she exclaimed.

When she had been younger, her father had been awkward with hugs – a habit that the young Aria had felt duty-bound to break. Now, he only carried a trace of the old awkwardness.

Her father chuckled. "So I've heard."

"So, Kratos, Nia, this is Aria?" the woman said, drawing Aria's attention to her.

She had long silver hair and green eyes, reminding Aria of Wraith, but her features were far softer than the child's.

"You don't remember me, do you? I'm Jade Lucrecia Cruxis Silverwind, an old friend of your mum, and an even older friend of your dad. The last time I saw you, you were only a toddler…"

Aria was still boggling from the long name to truly recognise that she had seen the woman before.

"Time flies, doesn't it?" Nia said sadly.

The other adults nodded.

"Talking of time flying, I'd better get home," Jade said. "Wraith'll be home any minute, even with the rain."

"Wait…you're Wraith's…mother?.." Aria asked hesitantly.

Jade smiled. "You met her today, then? Yes, I am."

And on that revelation, Jade disappeared in a flash of light.

"How…how did she do that?" Aria asked.

"She has her ways," Nia replied, not answering the question in the slightest. "So, how was your first day?"

Aria noticed the change in subject, but didn't argue, and told them all about the school, its grounds, some of the people she'd met, and of course, Draigas. She chose to gloss over the battle with Haru – if Draigas had forgiven her, that was good enough for her.

And then, she remembered what she had been promised that morning. "Mum, you promised to tell me-"

Her father cut her off.

In a slightly gruff tone, he said, "You've been worrying your mother to the point of tears with this. Do you think we'd keep something from you if it was important?"

The reprimand from her father hurt, but Aria stayed brave, and Draigas growled lightly at him.

"If it wasn't important you'd have told me already!" Aria reasoned, tears forming for the second time that day.

"Stop it, Kratos," Nia said wearily. "You're upsetting her…"

Aria quickly wiped away her tears. "I just don't like secrets!" she insisted, and her faithful dragon nudged her face in support.

Her father – Kratos – kneeled down to get near Aria's eye level.

"I'm sorry. It seems I'm still not that good a parent…"

"Dad," Aria started gently, "you'd get more practice if you were around more…"

"That's what we were talking to Jade about; whether it would be possible…" Nia started.

"Why would it not be possible? Dad just has to live here with us, right? What does Wraith's mum have to do with any of this?"

"She's a bigger expert on this than we are…"

"On what?"

"On different worlds, Aria. Neither of us two were born in this world…just you."

"Different…worlds?" Aria echoed numbly.

Nia smiled – a smile of relief; she'd wanted to say this for so long…

"There are an infinite amount of parallel worlds – universes – that it is near impossible to travel to. Because of this, many people in my home world believe most of these worlds to be fictional…like this world. In my world, there aren't any Pokèmon…it's quite boring really…"

"So…Mum, you come from a world with no Pokèmon…but what's it like? And…oh my god, do I have family there? And in Dad's world and…"

Aria almost collapsed with excitement. Nia and Kratos exchanged smiles at their daughter's reaction.

"So, we were talking to Jade and-"

"Can Dad stay? And what was the problem?"

"Yes, your dad can stay!" Nia interrupted, before her daughter could ask too many questions.

Aria leapt and gave her mum a hug, before running to her dad and giving him the same treatment.

"There are so many questions I need to ask you…"

"You haven't had anything to eat, yet. Can't it wait until I've put something on to cook?" Aria's mother wondered.

"I'll cook something," Kratos offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Nia, you won't be eating it, so it wouldn't be fair to ask you to cook."

Aria's mother wound her arms delicately around her husband. "You're so sweet…"

Aria rolled her eyes – it'd be hard getting a word of sense out of them as they were at the moment. They were always like this when they had the chance to be together, but normally Aria didn't mind. Now, though, when she was trying to get information out of them…

Aria noticed Draigas slithering off her neck.

"Where are you going?"

The Dratini lifted her head, looking at her trainer with wide eyes. Aria got the message – this was something the dragon had very good reasons for doing, even if she couldn't understand them.

Draigas found a corner of the room, and there was Seren - Nia's small, lilac dragon. Draigas hissed at it in fear, but the other dragon didn't move. In fact, Seren offered a forepaw in greeting, only to be rejected. Seren made a slightly indignant noise, which seemed to reign in the younger dragon. Draigas experimentally poked Seren with the tip of her tail, and Seren seized it, shaking it as humans would shake each other's hands.

Draigas, with a bemused air, but more at peace than she had been before, returned to her trainer, taking her usual perch wrapped around Aria's shoulders.

Her dad turned to her to ask what she wanted to eat.

"Spaghetti Bolognese!" Aria said with a cheeky grin – she knew her Dad loathed tomatoes with a passion.

"Aria…"

"Alright, alright…curry?"

"I think I can do that. …But…are you…okay?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought you might be annoyed with us for keeping things secret for so long."

"But you're telling me now, so there's no need to be annoyed."

"You have a very forgiving nature…you didn't get that from me…" her father said sadly.

"Why? Is there someone you wish you'd forgiven?"

"It…doesn't matter. I'll cook dinner now."

Aria retrieved a book from a shelf and curled up on the sofa reading it, while waiting for dinner. Nia smiled at her daughter – she made quite a picture, sat with the dragon reading over her shoulder.

"It's about different ways of raising Pokèmon. It's a little dry, though," the girl told her partner.

Aria reached for a different, well-worn book, this one having colourful, glossy pictures.

"This…I've read it so many times. Even as a little kid, I'd just look at the pictures… It's on travelling around the world. I'd love to go on a real journey, but it's just not possible right now. Someday, though, Draigas, we will go on our journey, I promise. Even if we just have to wait for the ferry…we will go."

Tani, the Growlithe, bounded in just then and greeted Aria enthusiastically, before sniffing Draigas thoroughly.

"Tani, come here," Nia commanded, to have her faithful Pokèmon obey.

Nia stroked the fur on Tani's head, which was a facade to kneel down and whisper something, but although Draigas and Aria strained to hear it, neither of them caught a word of it. Tani did, though, from the tail-wagging the whispered comment caused.

Aria rolled her eyes – what happened to the secrets rule?

It seemed no time at all before Kratos was dishing out a delicious smelling curry into two bowls for him and his daughter.

"Mum, why don't you eat?" Aria asked, savouring the spicy taste.

"It's complicated. In short, my body doesn't use food for fuel – it has another source. When I was your age, I got a bad illness. I didn't know it at the time, but that was my body changing. I don't need to eat or sleep. I just need to have flammable things…like oil, or petrol or wood. It's like…I'm made of fire, and I need to keep it stoked up, but apart from that, that's it."

Aria thought, slowly chewing her food. "Is that why you avoid water?"

Even the smallest tasks that involved water, like washing the pots, had been given to Aria at a young age.

"Yes, it is…you worked it out?"

"Yep. But…how come you're made of fire and I'm…normal?"

"Well, in our family line, only every other generation goes through this transformation. So my Grandma did, but my Mum didn't. There is only one other family like ours. Our family has a power – a demon – with fire and air, and the other family has a demon with water and earth. It keeps the balance between elements in my home world. In this world, the Legendary Pokèmon take care of that."

Although this was a lot for Aria to take in all at once, it made so many things make sense. All the way through her life, she'd noticed these little things her mother hid and they'd made her worry. Now, it was somewhat a relief to know what they were.

She continued eating her meal in contemplative silence, until her father spoke.

"Maybe Lloyd should come over to this world sometime. He's still such a child in his head – I'm sure he'd like it here."

"Who's Lloyd?"

"Your half-brother, Aria. And speaking of Lloyd, how is he?"

"He settled down with Sheena in Mizuho not too long ago…"

"That's brilliant! What took them so long?"

"Mum, who are all these people?" Aria broke in.

"They're friends, from your father's world. Sometime, we'll take you there…"

"Mum, what about _your _home world? Do we have any family there? Could I meet them?"

Nia's gaze dropped to the floor. "I…ran away from home when I was your age. I wouldn't even know where anybody lives anymore."

"But…I bet you could find out, Mum. And what if…this is your last chance to see them or something? And I'd like to see them…"

Nia looked at her daughter sympathetically. "You've never known your Grandparents…I suppose…how about I take you this weekend?"

"Really?"

"Yes…be warned, I haven't been there for fourteen years, so…things might have changed. It could be so different from how I remember it…"

"I should come with you, too," Kratos said.

"Yeah, they'll want to see this amazing man in my life…" Nia said, grinning.

Aria rolled her eyes. Parents…

"Anyway, Aria, you'd better go to bed."

"What? But can I ask-"

"There'll be all the time in the world to ask questions. Besides, don't you want to get up early for school tomorrow?"

Aria nodded earnestly. "Yeah, I'd better thank Mrs Hurtz properly in the morning."

"What for?"

"Oh…I got into a battle with Haru – he's this strong trainer who is two years older than us – and I lost pretty badly. Mrs Hurtz kindly healed Draigas."

"Are you alright?" Nia asked the dragon.

Draigas nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, yeah, earlier today, Haru...he said he wanted to talk to you…" Aria said, slightly confused. "He said the name Atkinson…or something…"

If Aria had to describe her parents' faces in that one moment, she would have used the old phrase 'they looked like they had just seen a ghost'. For her mother had a fearful, disbelieving look on her face and her father wore a stony, unreadable expression.

"Stephen?.." her mother whispered. "No, it's impossible – he'd have been too young; he can't have…"

"Genwyn?" her father questioned.

"It could be…one of hers…but…"

Aria thought hard – she knew she'd heard the name Genwyn before, too… "Wait – he mentioned her name too! He said I shouldn't trust her…"

"Genwyn's here? Absolutely, positively here? There's no doubt?" Nia sounded positively terror struck now.

"...What's going on?" Aria asked slowly, picking up on her parent's tension.

And so, they explained.

The other family Nia had mentioned – the family with the demon of water and earth – their family name was Atkinson. But there was another family who hunted these two – the Genwyn's. Their name meant poison, for every sweet-sounding word they uttered was insincere and lulled those that listened into a dangerous false sense of security. Traditionally, the two families would team up against the Genwyn, but when it had come to Nia's generation…

"Aria, there are some things I am still ashamed of, even now. In a way, I was partly responsible for Stephen's death…he was the Atkinson back then. He was only fourteen…"

"Mum…" Aria started weakly.

"Jade – Wraith's mum – she was possessed by a curse…she manipulated my memories…I thought she was the only one on my side…I thought Stephen sold me out to Genwyn…she killed him…and I just stood back and watched…I did nothing…"

Kratos enveloped Nia in a loose hug, and she sobbed uncontrollably on his shoulder.

Aria was stunned – she'd never seen an adult, much less her own mother, crying before. It was a scary, unnatural sight and Aria never wanted to see it again.

"It wasn't your fault," Kratos assured her gently. "If you'd have got in her way, she may have killed you, too, and then where would I be? You did the right thing..."

Nia didn't argue, but continued quietly crying in her husband's arms.

"I…I thought I had managed to escape Naois Genwyn, but if she's followed us here…we're all in danger. And this Haru…what was he like? I don't know if we can trust him…"

"He looks really weird – he has blue skin and fins…"

Nia frowned at the description. "Did he look anything like this?" she asked, digging out an old, crumpled, black and white photograph of a Zora that she'd taken on her travels.

"Yes, he did! But his face was a bit more human looking. And his ears were more rounded. And his…head-fin? That was shorter."

"I think I can explain it then. Before our first trip to Symphonia, Stephen and I went to Hyrule. At one point, he stayed in Zora's Domain for a number of days. At the time, I thought nothing of it, and went to the desert – the Gerudo people welcomed me with open arms seeing as I was female and a fire-lover. But it seems that Stephen may have…um…"

"Sired a child?" Kratos suggested, halting the awkward silence.

"Well, um, yes…anyway, Aria, it's far past your bedtime – go on, get some sleep. Let us worry about this."

Aria yawned and staggered off to her warm bed. It was only lying in bed, looking back on the day, with Draigas curled on a cushion on the floor, that Aria truly realised what a mixed day her first at Saralli Caira had been. Little did she know that the rest of the year would be just as, if not more, eventful than that fateful first day.

* * *

I've decided – the first section will be centred on Aria, then I'll move on to another character and so on. That way, my OCs won't completely dominate the story. Can I have a vote on which character to feature next? (It'll be at least four or five chapters to go, first, though)

Your choices are: Ebony, Wraith, Rhiannon, Tegeirian, Rydia, Pasqua, Fossil, Seig, Latto, Haru or Zero. Vote in a review or PM!


	5. The Second Day: Part 1

Hi! Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter! Now, this is starting to get moving a bit more and I'm getting ideas from everywhere!

I don't own Pokèmon. That privilege belongs to Nintendo.

* * *

The storm continued all night, its heavy rain lashing at the window, stopping Aria from sleeping. She looked out her window at the night sky and sighed. She would have liked to see the stars, but the storm clouds obscured them. Her father had always liked stargazing, something he had instilled in his daughter at a young age. When he hadn't been there, and she couldn't get to sleep, she had always turned to the twinkling lights in the sky, and because of the climate on her home island, the night sky was almost always clear, apart from the few and short times when it rained…

She was about to crawl back into bed, when she noticed a silhouette at the end of the garden. She squinted at the figure – it looked like her mum – but it couldn't be who she thought it was. It was raining, and the water would hurt her mum, wouldn't it? As Aria carried on looking, she realised that the rain was dodging around the figure who she was now quite sure was her mum.

Aria looked behind her with a slight start of alarm – her bedroom door had creaked open and she couldn't see who had opened it. Draigas blearily opened her eyes and sleepily drew Aria's attention to near the floor. Tani, her mother's Growlithe had crept into the room, and seeing Aria was out of bed, nudged her back towards the bed.

"But I'm not tired," she protested quietly.

Draigas growled lightly – _she_ was tired and if needs be, she'd tie her trainer down to the bed to get her sleep.

"Okay…" Aria didn't get the full extent of the growl, but she knew that between the two Pokèmon, she was beaten.

She crawled into bed and despite herself, fell asleep almost immediately. When she wasn't woken up by Tani's customary prank in the morning, and opened her eyes, slightly confused, it took her a few seconds for the events of the past day to catch up with her.

"Draigas? How do you feel?" she asked, concerned after yesterday's battle.

Draigas fixed her with a happy gaze, before doing several swift laps of the room – she seemed fine.

Aria quickly got dressed – a rough pair of jeans and a long-sleeved forest green top, which her mother had always said it had made her look like one of Robin Hood's merry men, but Aria hadn't known what she'd meant. Now she assumed it was something from her home world.

Dashing down the stairs, she wolfed down a slice of buttered toast and gave Draigas a bowl of food. She tapped her feet impatiently as the dragon ate.

"Aria," her mother reprimanded. "Can't you be a bit more patient? You woke up only five minutes ago and you are still a whole hour early for school."

"But I want to get there early, Mum!"

"Just promise me you'll be careful…especially around Genwyn. I don't know why I'm even letting you go…I'm so worried about you…but if you become a strong trainer, then I won't need to worry…and I have this feeling that you'll never forgive me if I don't let you..."

Aria was shocked – she could tell the words had come straight from her mother's heart - something of a rarity with her. While her mother tended to be honest, she was quite guarded about her emotions. "I'll be careful, I promise. I'll use a fake surname in school, and I won't let on anything that you told me last night. And I'll become a brilliant trainer…Genwyn's only one good reason to spur me on."

"And I bet another one is to be able to beat Haru?"

"Yep! It'll take a lot of training though, but that's okay. Even if it takes all my time in school…even if it takes longer. And I'll get there early every day! After all, what good trainer spends half the morning in bed?"

"Well, you seem to have got into the spirit of things, anyway," Nia smiled. "I have something for you."

Aria's mother handed Aria an intricate necklace. It had three, small glass-blown beads strung on it, one a rich indigo, another a dark scarlet and the last, a bottle green. From these beads was a metal clasp, and in each one there was a feather. The feather dangling from the indigo bead was turquoise, short and very soft; the feather in the red's clasp was a mottled grey and fairly wide and the last feather was jet black with a metallic tip. The last feather was slightly sharp, which Aria found out as she ran her finger over it's edge.

"Using this, you can contact me and your father whenever you want. If there's something you need us to hear, or if you're in trouble, just grab the right feather and think it to us. Mine is the grey feather, and your dad's is the turquoise one," Nia explained softly.

"Wha…so it's like magic? It isn't just very clever technology? It can't possibly _work _though, can it?" Aria wondered, taking the necklace.

"You believed I had a power with fire and air easily enough last night," her mother pointed out.

"But that was different. It made everything make sense, it… Very deep down, I knew it, I think. It was just like…remembering…just from a very long time ago..."

"It makes sense. The power runs in the family, so perhaps there is some foreknowledge built into us," Nia smiled. "Now, try using the necklace. I need to be sure you can use it if the need comes up."

"So, I just hold the feather…" Aria brushed her fingertips against the grey feather that represented her mother. "And think?"

Nia nodded.

Aria strained and strained but nothing she thought came through.

"Try it as if you're calling out to me, but silently. And emotion…I find these things are always easier with emotion."

Aria took her mum's advice.

_Mum? Can you hear me now? I suppose not. …I just wish I could get this right so you wouldn't have to worry…_

"But worrying about you is my job," the older woman said quietly.

It took Aria a few seconds to truly realise what her mother's words meant.

_Wait, you can hear me?_

"Yes."

_And you aren't just saying yes to wind me up?_

"Would I do that?"

Aria sighed. _Yes. Sometimes I don't know who is more childish, you or me…_

"Didn't you want to get to school early?" Aria's mother interrupted.

Aria was shocked into speaking aloud. "That's right! I'll go now, then, Mum. And I _will _be careful…"

"That's all I ask. Keep the necklace on you and don't be afraid to use it."

"I will! Bye!"

Aria dashed out the house, taking the moist, but quickly drying, ground outside the house at a short sprint. She walked briskly on the grass by the side of the dirt road, knowing it, at least, would be firm.

Draigas followed at her heels, a couple of times going off to investigate a rustle in the wind, or a drop of water falling from the few trees they passed. The sun shone down on them. It was amazing to think it was winter, and in other parts of the world, trees were bare, frost covered any damp ground and some Pokèmon were migrating, or hibernating… On this island, it was almost constantly sunny – there was very little different between summer and winter here. Aria had read about similar places, and places that were always covered in snow.

"Snow…I don't even know what it looks like…" Aria told her companion dragon. "They say it's cold, but people still want to play in it…how weird…"

Draigas looked at her trainer oddly.

"I suppose in some respects, I've had a very sheltered life, haven't I? We will go on this journey, though. I want to see snow for myself. And proper deserts…and lakes…and caves. I want to see everything!"

Draigas circled her eagerly.

"You too, right?"

The dragon nodded her agreement.

"We'll get there someday."

Aria found herself outside the school gates with those words.

"Well, that didn't take any time at all!"

As the two entered the gates, a figure waved at them.

"You still remember _me_, right?" the boy asked kindly.

"I might be bad with names, but I'm not _that_ bad. Latto, right?" Aria replied with a grin.

"Yep. So, you got a Dratini?"

"I didn't _get_ her. We're…partners…"

"You really are one of us, then! Just about the only trainer here who doesn't see their Pokèmon as…human is Haru…but that doesn't mean he doesn't respect them. He just isn't as familiar with them…they're like...trusted warriers, not friends."

Aria nodded. "I kind of got that impression off him…"

"Oh, yeah, I heard about the 'newbie' who took him on…and I thought you looked like a _smart _person," Latto teased.

"Oh," Aria muttered, turning red.

"Don't worry, only the whole school knows…"

"Thanks a lot!" she said sarcastically.

"Sorry. But it was a stupid thing to do. Not that I couldn't see it coming – not with the way you were talking to Haru. So, your partner – she's fine, right?"

"I was going to go into the main building to find Mrs Hurtz. She looked after Draigas yesterday – I want to thank her properly."

"You won't find her in the main building this early. She'll probably be in the Garden."

"The Garden?"

"I'll show you – it's not far, and it's an easy walk."

Latto led Aria across the meadow that surrounded the main building, heading slightly eastwards.

It was a small meadow hidden by a dip – Aria was sure that she would have never would have found it on her own – with thick banks of colourful flowers. Mrs Hurtz, wearing a rough set of clothes was merrily pruning and watering.

"There's such a variety of flowers and plants here that almost every bug and grass Pokèmon on the island is drawn here at some point in the year."

"She's watering? But it's only just rained…"

"Some of these plants like the damp, and the ground has almost dried off already."

Aria watched the plants swaying slightly in the little breeze that came into this little dip. But one plant near Mrs Hurtz was moving in the direction against the wind. On closer look, it wasn't a plant – it was her Roselia! It said a few words, and Mrs Hurtz turned around to see them.

"If it isn't Latto! And Aria too…how is Draigas?"

"She seems fine. We came to thank you."

"I was happy to help – think nothing of it! Anyway, Latto, are you ready for the exercise today?"

"I said yesterday – the group that gets me will have an easy time of it. I'm not a battler by nature, and I only have the two Pokèmon. Even then, I don't think Rika – the Surskit I caught yesterday – is up to this. It's potentially two against six… Not that I meant to complain, Miss…"

"I know…but it'll be their first exercise – you have far more experience than them. I just feel sorry for the poor team that gets Haru…"

"Excuse me," Aria said, feeling the fool. "I don't know what you're on about…"

"Of course, they haven't explained to the newbies yet," Latto realised. "Everyone else got told yesterday."

"The first years – or newbies, as Latto so _sensitively_ put it – have got a team building exercise this morning. You'll be split into groups of six and given instructions on how to get to a certain point where a trainer from the higher school will be waiting. Between you six, you have to try and beat the trainer."

"And a group will have Haru to beat?" Aria asked incredulously. "I don't envy them…"

"There is a chance it could be yours…about one in three…"

"Oh," Aria sighed heavily, the memory of yesterday's crushing defeat coming back to her. "Well, at least I wouldn't be alone…"

"Anyway, you'd better come with me back to the main building," Mrs Hurtz said. "Latto, you know where to go, don't you?"

"Yes, Miss. Good luck, Aria!" Latto left, heading – as far as Aria could tell – towards the shore.

"Aria…there's a good motto for everyone studying here at Saralli Caira to follow," Mrs Hurtz started, walking up the incline towards the building. "Expect the unexpected. If you do that…you won't get caught off guard here."

"If…if I do get Haru…what can I do? It's impossible for us to beat him as we are…"

"Your compassion is your greatest strength. Haru…you know he isn't all human. So, he can't attach himself to Pokèmon in the same way that we do. He can come across as cold, but he just sees them in a different way… They are physically stronger than you are, but they don't have the same security and compassion your Pokèmon will have…"

Her eyes misted over as her Roselia nudged her petals against her mistress' leg. This snapped her out of her dreamy lecture.

"Ah, my point was, you have a good emotional bond with your Pokèmon already. And I'd take this opportunity before school to train up, if I were you."

Aria nodded. "But…isn't it a bit like cheating? You giving me this advice but not everyone else?"

"Some people have got a greater background with Pokèmon than others. Other people have a skill with certain types of Pokèmon. Would you say that is cheating?"

"N…no…but…"

"Go along and train – you have about quarter of an hour, and Draigas seems in perfect fighting condition."

Draigas chirped in agreement, resting her head on Aria's shoulder.

"Okay! And thanks again!" Aria said happily, before running off.

Mrs. Hurtz was right – Aria had fifteen minutes and she was definitely was not going to waste them. She wandered across the grassland, but it seemed so quiet…where were all the Pokèmon? Suddenly, there was a rustle of movement in the long grass, and a Starly stepped out into the open.

"Go, Draigas!" Aria commanded, adrenaline flooding her system in anticipation of the battle.

The dragon flew into action, her serpentine body twisting lithely as she growled.

"Attack with Dragon Rage!"

Draigas fixed an angered gaze on the small bird as it flapped and twittered in fear, but never getting co-ordinated enough to fly away. Small, unnatural flames gathered at Draigas' mouth before shooting off to hit the bird Pokèmon. It attempted to dodge the attack, but the stream of fire tracked it until it hit.

The Starly reeled in pain, uttering a feeble cry before falling to the ground, unconscious, but not too badly harmed.

"We…we won…" Aria said numbly. "Strange…I thought it'd be stronger…actually, aren't Starly meant to be slightly bigger than that?"

Suddenly, an enraged Staravia swooped down, attempting to clutch at Draigas with her talons.

"Uh-oh – I think that might be its mother! Draigas, Wrap!"

The Dratini shot after the angered bird, pining the Staravia's wings to its body using her own snake-like form. Draigas squeezed the bird with as much strength as she could muster.

The Staravia writhed in the vice-like grip, pecking all she could reach and forcing the dragon to let go.

"Thunder Wave!" the human commanded.

Draigas panicked – she'd never used Thunder Wave before, even though she had the ability to – and she was worried. She slinked around the bird, trying to feel the electricity in her mind. Meanwhile, the Staravia flapped her powerful wings and created a whirling vortex of wind, sending it towards the dragon.

A bolt of electricity escaped Draigas in her panic and infused the whirlwind. Giving a screech of dismay, she shot away from the whirlwind, which was now crackling with electricity. The whirlwind slowly went round in a circle before making its steady way back to where it had come from – the Staravia.

It was the bird's turn to screech – this time in pain, as its attack rebounded back on her. Draigas finished her off without being told – using another stream of those unnatural flames a dragon could conjure.

"Well done, Draigas!" Aria smiled.

The dragon returned to her trainer, gently winding around the girl's neck and catching her breath.

"You'll be okay to keep fighting in a minute or two, right?" The girl checked, concerned.

Draigas nodded eagerly.

Trainer and Pokèmon continued training for ten minutes until the melodic bell from the main building rang across the grounds. The two, slightly breathless, made their way back to the school's looming concrete tower.

A small group of the people she'd met yesterday was already there, and within five minutes – during which, she healed the small scrapes Draigas had obtained with a potion – all of her year had gathered.

A new teacher appeared to talk to them. He was taller than Mr. Reese, and solidly built. He looked in his late forties, with greying unruly hair and a wild beard. Quite frankly, he was scary…but not intimidating. A Mankey beside him gave a strange grin, which made Draigas shrink into Aria's shoulder slightly.

"I'm Mr. Harrier, for you lovely people who don't know me. I'm sure I'll get to know you all personally in a few months. I teach Myths and Legends. Now, I've been told to split you into groups and give you your instructions," he had a gruff, yet forcibly jovial voice.

He gave the children a looking over while he made up his mind.

"Hmm…you with the Poochyena. You're leader for Group One."

The girl Aria knew as Rhiannon nodded slightly with a slight grimace.

"And you two with a Dratini each. What's your names?"

"Aria," she said quickly.

"Zero."

"Aria, you're leading Group Two. Zero, you're Group Three's leader."

Aria's heart sunk – she was a lousy leader and she knew it.

Ten minutes, her team mates and her were outside. There was Seig, the boy with the unnatural-feeling Eevee; Wraith with _her_ Eevee; Fossil with the cute Phanpy; Ebony, the cat-person, with her Vulpix; and Pasqua, with the giant seeming Tropius.

"Okay, the instructions read: 'Make your way North for a hundred paces, then head East for forty-two paces. There are instructions left on the Silver Birch.'"

"That doesn't sound too difficult," Seig pointed out.

"Yeah, but…how far is a pace?" Aria wondered.

"Oh! I know! It's like…" Pasqua took a large step, her legs almost split. "…this, right? Right?"

"Not that big…" Seig said, exasperated.

So, with that in mind, they set off.

Aria knew it would take them a few minutes to get there, and she thought it'd be a good idea to get to know each other better, especially for this battle that she knew would be at the end.

"How about we each tell everyone one thing about us that everyone else doesn't know?" she suggested.

"Alright!" Pasqua exclaimed excitedly. "Um…I get _really _hyper on sugar!"

"Just out of interest, have you had any sugar this morning?"

"Nope."

The group boggled. How could she be so hyper normally? And it was first thing in the morning, too…

"Alright, my turn," Wraith said, ending the silence. "I sometimes have dreams of ruling the world…they're fun…"

"O…kay…moving swiftly on…my greatest ambition is to go on a journey all over the world!" Aria announced.

"That sounds like a good idea. It's a bit tricky to get off this island, though, isn't it?" Ebony asked.

"Yeah, the ferry only comes a few times a year. But if I get a large enough Pokèmon with Fly, or Surf…"

At this, Draigas drew all attention towards herself with an excited yelp of a sudden idea.

"You're saying you could? As a Dragonite?"

Draigas nodded happily, glad that her trainer understood.

"Well, it'll be a while yet…who's next?"

Fossil spoke up. "I didn't actually pass the entrance exam…"

"What?"

"My aunty works here, so they let me in…"

His Phanpy took this as a cue to curl himself into a ball and roll into his master's legs, making him fall over.

"Oww…"

"I think your Phanpy can tell…" Aria observed. "Anyway, anyone else?"

"I bet you want to know about the ears, right?" Ebony said, tugging on one of her feline ears.

"What made you think that?"

"It's just that everyone comments on the ears…" Ebony explained, her tail's tip flicking from side to side with an annoyed air.

"I think they're awesome!"

"But…how did you get them…if it's alright to ask…"

"I must have been born with them. Or I got them when I was very small. I can't remember _not _having them…"

"I want to be a Neko-jin…" Wraith grumbled under her breath.

"Well, Seig? You haven't answered yet."

"Um…"

Willow, the Eevee, nestled closer to Seig – almost hiding herself from view – as the boy tried to think of an answer.

"I…I...hey, is that the tree we've been looking for?" he said suddenly, diverting the attention off him.

They followed his gaze, and yes, it was a white-barked tree, and hanging from one of it's uppermost branches was an envelope.

"How are we meant to get _that_?!" Ebony wondered incredulously, looking up at the envelope.

"A Neko-jin should like climbing trees, right?" Wraith reasoned.

Ebony's ear twitched in annoyance. "I get _stuck _up trees!"

Draigas poked her trainer with her tail to get the human's attention.

"You could get it?"

Draigas nodded.

"Are you sure? It looks pretty high…"

Draigas gave her trainer a scathing look. She was a dragon – heights didn't faze her. Besides, she could _fly_. She shot up into the higher reaches of the tree, and tugged at the string with her mouth, until it frayed and snapped. Triumphantly, she handed the letter to her trainer.

Ripping it open, Aria read, "North-east of the Surskit's home and south of the forest border."

"That's rather vague…" Seig commented.

"Not really. There's only one place that I know of here that Surskit appear, so if I find that first…" Aria trailed off when she noticed her classmates staring at her.

"How do you know where this place is?"

"I came here early both days and yesterday I found it while wandering around. I only know it has Surskit there because Latto caught one," she explained matter-of-factly.

"Any other nuggets of information you'd like to share?"

"We're going to have a battle at the end of this," Aria informed them. "Against someone in the upper school…"

A moment of silence passed while they digested this information. Then…

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Fossil said.

"Yeah, let's go. Aria, you know where to go, so we'll follow you."

Aria led the way through the forest. Occasionally, a breeze ruffled the treetops, sending a thin scattering of water from the previous night's rain on the children, but they hardly noticed, and Aria, deep in concentration was all but dead to the world. Left at this tree, right at another…she couldn't even rely on Draigas for help remembering…

She smiled to herself – she hadn't realised how much she'd come to depend on the dragon in the last two days…although the first day now seemed like a lifetime ago…

Aria was only sure she was on the right track when she heard the quiet trickle of water.

"This way," she said happily.

She followed the trickle to a pond – the pond where she'd met Latto.

"This is the place. So we want to go north-east from here, which is…" Aria considered, finally pointing to her right somewhere. "That way, right?"

After the other's checked the position of the sun and worked it out, they agreed that Aria was right and continued walking.

Suddenly, a small clearing came into view. It was ringed by trees on all sides, and dotted with small wildflowers. But in the centre, stood a blue skinned figure with a smirk.

"So...we _will _be battling Haru, after all…"

* * *

Long chapter, I know! Also, I've decided to get rid of the vote system, as I have certain events that need to be done in a certain order (yes, there is an actual plot to this from the beginning – normally I just start writing and the plot sorts itself out – Jade is an example of a character where that became a good thing, but Stephen's an example where that became a bad thing. For those who don't know or can't remember, Jade is Wraith's mum and Stephen is Haru's dad.)

So, after around chapter 9 or 10 it'll be Seig's turn to take centre stage, and then I have plot! Glorious plot!

Okay, please leave me a review! And if you know me in real life, I would like more than one word reviews – criticism…anything? Keeping everyone in character? Please?!


	6. The Second Day: Part 2

This is scary…people I _don't know _are recommending that I write non-fanfiction and be a best-selling authoress (while my friends and family have been saying it for years, but that's because they're my _friends and family_…they don't really count) Plus the fact that when J.K Rowling was asked the question 'Why do you write?' it was almost exactly what I keep saying to anyone who asks _me_…I'm suitably scared…

I don't own Pokèmon. Or Legend of Zelda. Or Tales of Symphonia, for that matter…

* * *

_In the centre of the clearing, stood a blue skinned figure with a smirk.__"So, we will be battling Haru after all…"_

The half-Zora turned at the sound of his own name.

"So you lot are the weaklings I have to beat?" he scoffed. "This is just too easy. So, ready to battle? "

"Not quite so fast," Mr. Reese's voice rang out across the battlefield. "We have to admit that the odds are stacked in Haru's favour, so he is forced to announce his Pokèmon now to allow you to form a strategy before the fight."

Haru glared at the teacher before turning to the group. "First, I'll be using my Grovyle. Then, I'll use Staravia, then Riolu, then Floatzel and Monferno. Last, I'll use Luxio. Happy?"

The group bunched together into a circular huddle, dropping their voices to a whisper so that Haru couldn't hear them.

"Draigas will take on anything except that Floatzel," Aria whispered frantically.

"I can take the Grovyle on," Ebony promised.

"Oh, oh – Dashita wants the Riolu!" Pasqua said excitedly.

"Hmm…Rolo would be best against the Luxio…" Seig told Fossil. "Which leaves the Staravia, Floatzel and Monferno…"

"Then we'll take the Staravia," Aria pledged, remembering her and Draigas' only training session.

"Sirius? Does the Floatzel sound good to you?" Wraith asked – although everyone forgot the question with the event that followed.

A bright flash of light lit up Seig's arms, and Willow glowed brightly. Her ears lengthened, her body became sleeker and stream-lined and her tail became long and elegant. When the glow died down, Willow was a delicate shade of lilac – she had evolved into an Espeon.

"H…how?…" Mr Reese, more than anyone, was stunned.

"Wow, Seig! Willow must really like you to evolve this quickly!" Aria said.

Pasqua jumped up and down with excitement. "I've never seen a Pokèmon evolve before! That was so cool!"

And yet, the teacher was speechless. Numbly, he pulled out a small computer and tapped at its screen with a stylus. Then, after a few long minutes, turning to Seig, he said, "No one has _ever_ had a Pokèmon evolve so soon after obtaining it…congratulations."

Aria frowned. She'd only just realised then, that if she were in Seig's place, she'd be really happy and proud…but more than anything, Seig just seemed nervous. Willow was closer to him than ever, gazing mistrustfully at Mr. Reese. She had the feeling that there was more than meets the eye here – and she should know, with all the secrets her family kept from her. Mr. Reese, for his part, was looking at the newly evolved Espeon with a deeply thoughtful look.

"Shouldn't we get on with this battle?" Haru asked in a bored tone.

"But, Seig's…"

"So the runt's Pokèmon evolved? Big deal. It won't change a thing."

"He's right – we came here to battle," Seig agreed, not at all stung by the 'runt' comment, despite it being somewhat true - he was fairly short compared to the other boys.

Haru smirked. "Finally. Go, Grovyle!"

He threw a ball into the air, and in a flash of red, the green lizard-like Pokèmon appeared.

"Phoenix? We're counting on you," Ebony smiled as her Vulpix bounded into the battle area.

"Grovyle, give it a Razor Leaf," Haru commanded lazily.

"Dodge and use Will'o'Wisp!"

A multitude of tiny, needle-sharp leaves flew at the fox, yet she nimbly skirted around the attack, the leaves embedding themselves harmlessly into the soil. Then, with a short puff of deep violet flame, the Grovyle was badly burnt.

"Grovyle, fight through it. Use Substitute!"

After a moment of intense concentration from Haru's Pokèmon, it disappeared, to be replaced by a large wooden doll – at least twice the Vulpix's height.

"What the-?"

"Substitute is a move where a Pokèmon can create a shield of sorts to hide behind by sacrificing a portion of their health. You won't be able to attack the Grovyle until his substitute is destroyed," Seig explained.

Ebony was about to give a command, when they heard a pained cry from the Grovyle, and his substitute disappeared.

"Phoenix, Ember!"

The Grovyle gave a small screech, but it was clear the battle was far from over.

"Why did his substitute just disappear though?" Wraith wondered.

"I know, I know!" Pasqua shouted. "It was because of his burn, right?"

"Yeah – he was still burnt even with the substitute, and the pain from the burn must have broken his concentration, I think," Aria hypothesised.

"Exactly. Substitute is a clever move, but it needs an intelligent trainer to carry it off," Mr Reese explained.

"What? You're saying I'm dumb?!" Haru shouted, turning his head from the match.

Ebony, seizing the distraction, shouted, "Phoenix, now!"

No one was quite sure what attack came from the small, crimson fox – all they knew is that it contained a _lot_ of fire and it warmed every corner of the battlefield. Even the children – standing a good distance away – felt the intense heat of the flames.

The Grovyle reeled from the attack and fell to the ground. He tried feebly to push himself to his feet, but he flinched with pain – the burn kicked in again – and didn't try to move anymore.

"Grovyle, come back!" Haru commanded. "Humph. Don't think you've won. I could've beaten you at any time. Now, I know not to underestimate you… Go, Staravia!"

Haru's second Pokèmon appeared with a fierce cry.

"Our chance then, Draigas!" Aria said, sounding far more confident than she felt.

The dragon swiftly left her trainer's side, to be instantly swooped upon by the large bird.

"Thunder wave!"

Draigas created a field of electricity half a meter from her face, shocking the Staravia. It practically fell from the sky, having gained a paralysis in its right wing. Angrily, it tried to peck Draigas in retaliation, but the dragon easily dodged the attack by soaring a little way into the air - something the bird could no longer do.

"Staravia, Aerial Ace!"

With it's remaining wing, it sliced through the air, creating a powerful yet, thin gust of air that hit Draigas square – it was impossible to dodge.

Aria thought frantically – Draigas had survived the hit, but a couple more like that and they'd be in serious trouble. They needed to end the battle, and quick.

"Shock Wave!"

Yet another move that the dragon had never used before, but she knew, unlike the last time that she couldn't afford any mistakes or delays. She covered the arena in crackling electricity, to which the bird shrieked – it was enraged – yet stood its ground, unleashing a powerful flap of its wings. As the wing came perilously close to Draigas, her trainer noticed it had glinted menacingly in the sunlight – the Staravia had used Steel Wing without being commanded to.

Draigas unleashed another Shock Wave, this time directing it to the bird; in particular its metallic wing. This time, the full force of the attack made it cry out in agonising pain, and Haru – wincing – withdrew the battered and electrocuted bird.

"So far, you lot have had it easy! Riolu, go!"

"Oh, oh! It's my turn, right?" Pasqua exclaimed. "Yay! Come on, Dashita!"

Her considerably calmer Tropius rolled his eyes and slowly moved into the arena. Aria bit her lower lip – so far, the first year trainers had only had the advantage by their Pokèmon being faster and smaller than their opponents. And even then, it had been a close thing – under Aria's meticulous scrutiny, Draigas was completely exhausted. She'd misjudged Draigas' stamina when she'd thought a few more attacks might finish her off – if the Staravia had had another chance to attack, she would have definitely lost.

"Dashita! Super secret combination, number three!"

All the humans blinked. What was 'super secret combination, number three'? They were about to find out.

First, a ring of foul purple appeared beneath the Riolu, making it gag – it seemed the ring was giving off some poisonous gases. Then, while it was still reeling from the toxins, two vines shot from Dashita's neck, holding the small blue warrior Pokèmon down by its small black arms. A flurry of needle sharp leaves left the Tropius, zooming towards the Riolu, who was now effectively tied down and couldn't move. Finally, a few seeds latched themselves to Riolu, growing at an intense speed.

"Wow…smart move…" Aria whispered under her breath.

"So, Dashita used Toxic first, to poison the Riolu. Then, Vine Whip to hold it down so it couldn't dodge, Razor Leaf to inflict damage and Leech Seed to sap it's health even more…even Haru's Pokèmon should have a job dealing with this," Seig predicted.

"Dashita. Keep it still! Vine Whip!"

The Tropius obeyed, using his vines for a second time to hold down the fighter. Although Riolu fought his bonds tooth and claw, it was clear his strength was dwindling rapidly due to both the strong poison and Leech Seed. Eventually, he went limp, and Haru was forced to recall him.

"Well…that was embarrassing…Floatzel – your turn!"

"We'll stay out for this match, it that's okay," Pasqua said. "His Pokèmon are complete pushovers!"

With a derisive snort, the Floatzel shot a weak beam of ice at the Tropius – far weaker than the one she'd shot at Draigas – yet the grass Pokèmon roared in pain.

"D…Dashita!" Pasqua wailed in fear. "Attack back!"

The Tropius charged wildly at the Floatzel, who nimbly dodged the large Pokèmon, who fell down with a crash. As a final vehement gesture, the Floatzel bit it hard on its tail.

"Dashita! Come back!"

As the Tropius was withdrawn, Wraith stepped forward with her Eevee, Sirius, by her side.

"It's our turn, Sirius!"

The Eevee picked his way onto the battlefield slowly, giving the Floatzel an analytical look. He spat at the water Pokèmon, his fur on end.

"Floatzel, Brick Break!" Haru commanded coldly.

The Floatzel threw a powerful blow in the Eevee's direction, which Sirius barely dodged. Everyone watching knew that if the attack had hit, this part of the battle would have been over in one hit.

"Sirius, nice work! Dig!"

The Eevee burrowed his way underground, however, Haru didn't seem too impressed.

"You think you're the only one who can dig? Floatzel, underground, now!"

The water Pokèmon also burrowed underground. Now, the battlefield seemed deserted, but for two mounds of earth, contrasting harshly with their thick, grassy surroundings. Everyone scanned the field desperately – the Pokèmon who emerged first would be disorientated and confused…yet if they stayed in the earth too long, they could end up suffocating.

The seconds slowly passed by…a tiny tremor made them all jump as another mound of earth pushed its way out of the ground. But the question was: was it the Eevee, or the Floatzel? A small nose pushed its way out of the ground causing a ripple of excitement – it was orange! The Floatzel had emerged! Two seconds later, it was knocked into the air by Sirius' unseen attack.

"Follow it up with Swift!"

An army of tiny golden stars shot from the Eevee, buffeting his opponent endlessly, but when the Floatzel dropped to the ground, it showed no indication of the attacks inflicted on it. It merely snarled at Sirius, showing its teeth.

Sirius whined endearingly at the otter-like creature, stunning it for a second, before it retaliated with a series of growls.

Somehow, Aria realised, "They're talking to each other…instead of battling…"

From the lack of reply, it seemed that everyone else had already reached that conclusion, and Aria was merely pointing out the obvious. As the two Pokèmon continued to talk, Aria would've given anything to be able to understand them.

Seig, after listening intently to Willow, repeated, "Sirius is…explaining to the Floatzel. He's saying why, even though they're so young, they can still beat some of Haru's Pokèmon. It's because…"

Aria gave a soft smile. "Our Pokèmon have a strong bond with us. They trust us, not for our knowledge. They know we're going to make mistakes, and they may make their own, too. They follow us because they know we'll respect them. We won't ever abandon them. We aren't their trainers…we're their friends."

"How sappy," Haru said, applauding sarcastically. "Where on earth do you get this rubbish from? I think I'm going to be sick."

"But it's true! Even after the fight yesterday, Draigas still trusted me, and I didn't understand why until now. But no matter how hard the fight is…no matter how many times we lose…we'll keep coming back, stronger than ever. And, we will win someday. What's more, we'll have fun getting there, too!"

Aria turned to see her classmates staring at her. "W…what?" she wondered, suddenly self-conscious.

"Nice speech," Seig commented.

"You wouldn't happen to know Lloyd Aurion, would you?" Wraith asked with a smirk. "Because you sounded a lot like him just then…"

"Aurion?.. My Dad's name…he must be my half-brother. I've never actually met him…"

"Enough time chatting! Floatzel, Ice Beam!" Haru commanded.

The Floatzel winced, but otherwise did nothing.

"Floatzel!" the half-Zora shouted.

His Pokèmon turned slowly around to stare him in the eyes. Then, disappearing in a flash of red light…

"He withdrew himself," Mr Reese explained. "Well, Haru, I haven't seen you lose a match since…"

"Shut up! This isn't a real battle anyway – it's six on one. And they know all my Pokèmon…"

In Aria's mind, Haru seemed to be unnerved – not as confident as he was before. Nevertheless, he threw his next Pokèball into the arena, unleashing an ape-like Monferno.

Seig looked at Willow with a deep, searching look. "Are you ready for the battle?"

The Espeon gave a happy cry, and ran onto the battleground.

"Willow, Confusion."

A split second of concentration was all Willow needed to create a powerful, yet unseen force which crushed down on the Monferno, rendering it useless in one attack. It was knocked out cold.

"You useless…" Haru eyed the fainted Pokèmon with disgust. "If I didn't know any better, you probably asked that Espeon to knock you out. Doesn't matter now. You can go free, seeing as you hate me that much. Go, and never come back to me."

"Haru, you can't set a Pokèmon free during a battle," Mr Reese said mock-delicately – if you listened carefully, it was almost a singsong voice he used.

"Fine, I forfeit the match. I would have lost anyway – they knocked out all my Pokèmon up until now."

Haru stormed off without another word.

"He's not a good loser, is he?" Fossil asked simply.

"He's probably a Mister Arrogant when he wins, too!" Pasqua pointed out.

"Well, we won…" Aria said numbly.

Draigas trilled happily.

On the battlefeild, the Monferno staggered to his feet and looked around. With a small dispondent cry that his trainer had left him, he disappered into the forest, unseen by everyone.

"It'll soon be time for lunch, so if you want to go to the main building…" Mr Reese suggested, but he got no further than that before a stampede of children – resembling nothing less scary than a stampeding herd of Taurus – made it's swift way past him and into the forest.

After all, there was nothing better than a battle to build up an appetite!

* * *

Okay, this should probably be dedicated to Ross (whose character is Seig), who pestered until I got this chapter written. Also for giving me ideas, helping me with move sets…he's really helped this along!

Also, I've been craving to write an argument for ages! Haru letting out his frustration was not enough…I may need a shouting match soon…but that's for another chapter…

Anyway, please review; I was so pleased with the amount of reviews – especially from new reviewers – that I got last time, I needed surgical assistance to remove myself from the ceiling! Okay, so not really…but you get the message!


	7. The Second Day: Part 3

I'm about to have a load of exams, so there _may_ be a delay in the next chapter. But we'll see…

I don't own Pokèmon.

* * *

The canteen was a relatively small, well-kept room with a kitchen attached. As they cooked for a maximum of around fifty pupils and staff every day, there was no need for the crowded, noisy, stinking halls that would be needed to accommodate a thousand pupils. 

The first-years were spread over two different tables. Aria, Ebony, Wraith, Rhiannon, Tegeirian, Pasqua and Rydia sat together on one table, and the boys went to another. Everyone seemed to be quite awkward with each other – after all, they didn't know each other that well – except Pasqua, who was chatting quickly and animatedly to anyone and everyone.

"So…how did your fight go?" Aria asked Rhiannon slowly.

"We beat him easily – but Latto knew he wasn't going to win…"

Aria frowned, the way Nannon was talking, it seemed like she already knew Latto quite well. Speaking of which, the boy in question grabbed a chair and sat on the end of the table.

"Did I hear you talking about me?" he asked Rhiannon.

"Just saying how easily we beat you…"

Latto sighed. "You're not going to let me forget this, are you? I can see this now – you're going to tell Aunty Magic and she'll tell the whole family…"

"You're related?" Aria wondered.

"Yeah…we're cousins. Notice any family resemblance?"

Nannon had sparkling violet eyes, and had one of those faces that was impossible to forget – it seemed to shout mystery and magic. Latto on the other hand, while not looking ugly, just seemed average – green-brown eyes and light brown, neatly kept hair. He could blend easily into any crowd, while his cousin would not be forgotten in a hurry.

"Uh…not really," Aria honestly answered.

"I take after my father mostly, but she takes after her mother," Latto explained. "We're related on our fathers' side."

Aria quickly worked this out – she was never good with working out family members, as hers was so small – and came up with the fact that both their fathers were brothers.

"Okay…I get that. So, what happened in the battle?"

"Don't go there," Latto sighed. "Bandit ended up so badly poisoned that he couldn't see straight – both of Nannon's team mates had poison types…"

"Yep, me, Tegg and Rydia were in a team together. Oi, mush!" she called to Tegeirian. "We're talking about you!"

Aria got the impression that Nannon and Tegg must have known each other a long time, as Tegg hardly reacted, just adding a puzzled, "Wha-?" Aria would later find out that Nannon treated just about everyone like this.

"Never mind. Do we have lessons tonight?"

"Yeah, I need to go to yours tonight," Tegg said.

Aria was curious, but decided it would be too rude to ask. Besides, the next second, Latto had already distracted her.

"The Communications lesson is tonight, too, after school. Are you going?"

"I don't know. What exactly do you do?"

"It's basically learning to be able to understand Pokèmon when they're talking. It's really useful, but hardly anyone stays, because it's after school. I've been going for the last year, and I love it," Latto enthusiastically told Aria.

"Can you understand Pokèmon now, then?"

"I can understand Bandit really clearly, and if I try really hard, I can get the gist of what others are saying. I'm going to keep going, though. It's not just being able to understand Pokèmon, there are loads of bonding exercises we do, which are fun and because we're such small groups, you get to know everyone else really quickly."

"I'd like to stay…sounds alright, anyway…but I haven't told Mum. And she'll really worry about me…"

"Why don't you call her now? You know, on your Pokètech?"

"Oh, good idea!"

Aria mentally cursed herself as she cycled through the options on the watch-like device on her wrist. Pressing the buttons skilfully, with the ease of much use, she heard the dial tone as it rung home. Finally, her mother's voice appeared on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mum, it's me! I was wondering: there's a class on after school and I'd like to stay, so can I? Please?"

"Getting to school early and staying behind after school…you're really working hard, aren't you? Well, I don't see why not – just be careful, and we'll see you a bit later, then."

"Thanks, Mum! Bye!"

"Bye!"

After she hung up, Aria smiled at her victory. "I can stay," she told Latto.

"Good! You can always try it this week, and if you don't like it, you can always give it up – Mr. Reese wouldn't mind. He's pretty good like that."

"He doesn't seem to like Haru, though," Aria pointed out.

"Well, he's just sore…once, when Haru was answering back in class – he blatantly told Mr. Reese that he wasn't listening – Mr. Reese did the usual teacher trick of 'if-you-think-you're-too-good-for-this-class-then-prove-it', except he wasn't expecting Haru to _win_. Haru's boasted about it ever since, and Mr. Reese…hasn't forgiven him."

"That explains it, then…oh, did I tell you that my group beat him?"

"Really?" there was a look of utmost disbelief on Latto's face.

"Yeah, we won all of the five matches, and after that, he forfeited. Two of his Pokèmon refused to fight, though…"

"But, still…that's a real achievement…"

"We were lucky, and we had the type advantage mostly…it wasn't _that _much of an achievement…" Aria said modestly. "Besides, it _was _six on one."

Draigas crooned at her trainer, telling her to accept the praise and not to be too modest.

"So," Latto started, changing the subject, "Do you bring lunch or get it in school?"

"I was going to get something while here."

"Was?"

"I forgot my money," Aria realised.

"Here," Latto threw a sandwich wrapped in cellophane to Aria.

"I can't take this – it's your lunch…"

"My parents always pack too much. So does Nannon's, so she gives it to Tegg, or anyone else. Anyway, enjoy that, and I'll see you later – I have someone I need to talk to."

"Um…Okay, bye!"

Latto stalked off to a table with other second year pupils. Aria, now feeling slightly abandoned, turned to her fellow first years.

"Uh…hi, Wraith," Aria attempted, to start a conversation.

"Hi."

"So…are you thinking about going to this Communications lesson after school?"

"Not really. My brother's visiting – I don't normally get many chances to see him – so I want to get home as soon as school finishes."

"Cool, so what's your brother like?"

"He is awesome. He's so tall, and has longer hair than me…"

Seeing as Wraith's hair reached a few inches past her shoulders, her brother must have had _very _long hair.

"And he is a really good swordsman – I've seen him and mum sparring…"

"Really? I know my dad's good with a sword, but I've never seen him use it…mum's taught me a little bit of unarmed self-defence, though."

"Nice…so, did you see Watching Trainers last night?"

"No, sorry…we don't watch a lot of television, and I had a big discussion with mum and dad last night."

"Discussion? About…other worlds?"

Aria nodded, stunned. How did Wraith know?

"My mum told me – you met her, didn't you?"

"Yeah, she looks like you…she speaks a foreign language, doesn't she?"

"Like_ Cymraeg? _Mum doesn't just speak it – she practically invented it," Wraith said, surprising Aria.

Wraith had just named the language Aria had learnt as a little child.

"_Ydy ti'n siarad e_?" Aria asked – Do you speak it?

"_Rydw i'n meddwl bod gallu i'n siarad e…_" Wraith answered – I think that I can speak it…

Aria laughed slightly. Somehow, she knew they were going to be friends already. After a few minutes of talking in Welsh, Aria noticed the cat-eared and –tailed Ebony not talking to anyone bar the small red fox in her arms.

"Are you okay?" Aria asked in a language that everyone could understand.

"Yeah," she responded cheerfully enough.

"Are you going to the Communications lesson tonight?" Aria wondered – making a mental note that this question was a good icebreaker.

"Yeah, there's no reason not to."

"Me too! Do you know anyone else in our year who's staying?"

"I think Pasqua might have said something…"

"No…she's just…_too _cheerful…and annoying..." Aria moaned.

"And Seig."

"Okay, I don't have a problem with him."

"Well, he _seems _nice enough, but didn't you get the feeling he was hiding something?"

Aria nodded sombrely. "It was almost as if he was afraid…but of what?"

Wraith butted in here. "And his Espeon evolving so quickly…"

Sirius gave a disappointed whine from Wraith's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Sirius. You'll evolve when it's right…" Wraith reassured him.

"Here's a novel idea – if we think he's hiding something, why don't we just _ask _about it?" Aria suggested dryly – by now, she was sick of gossiping and getting nowhere.

Yet, when it came to it, all three of them were too shy to ask Seig outright, so that topic was soon dropped. In a couple of minutes, Rhiannon asked if anyone wanted an orange, as she had two going spare. Ebony took one, with a bit of asking whether it was really all right, and Tegg took the other.

Rydia also offered some food – a sandwich and a banana. Wraith ate the sandwich, while Ebony ate the banana…

It was a few hours before anyone truly realised the significance of this event…

It was midway through their only formal lesson of the day, to be precise. The whole school was in the small lecture hall, listening to Mr. Harrier making pathetically unfunny jokes about everyone's names, and eventually getting round to teaching the assembled students about myths, legends and general history. Ebony, sat between Aria and Tegeirian, had whispered complaints of feeling sick all lesson, but now she was swaying unsteadily in her seat, and her eyes were unfocused.

Understandably, Aria was concerned. "Ebony? Are you all right?"

"No…" she moaned quietly.

"Shall we tell Mr. Harrier?" Tegg asked.

Ebony evidently didn't trust herself to speak, nodding instead – yet even this seemed to hurt, as she clutched her head immediately afterwards.

"Mr. Harrier…sir…" Aria called to get the bearded teacher's attention.

"What is it, little Arianrhod?" he asked, as was his way. He'd given everyone a groan-inducing nickname within the first ten minutes of the lesson. Aria had escaped pretty lightly compared to some of the pupils here.

"Ebony looks very ill, sir."

He made his way up to out tier of benches, and took one look at the pale, swaying girl. It was only now that Aria noticed that Ebony's tail, rather than making its usual fluid movements was twitching uncontrollably.

"Take her to sick bay," Mr. Harrier commanded. "If she gets worse, she can phone home."

Aria helped Ebony stagger to her feet. It was perfectly clear that she couldn't stand on her own, and almost knocked Aria off balance until she adjusted to the weight leaning on her shoulder. However, Ebony was quite light, and it wasn't too difficult to guide the cat-person to the pure white room.

The sick bay was very small, with barely enough room to fit a single bed and a few, small cabinets for storing medicines, bandages and the like. However, it was clean, had a plastic bowl (for use in the event that someone threw up - an event which seemed more and more likely every second), a place where someone could lie down if they needed to and running water.

Ebony all but collapsed on the bed. "Sorry," she apologised.

"What for?"

"Causing trouble," she explained.

"Don't be ridiculous. You shouldn't be apologising while you're sick. It's not your fault," Aria said. "Maybe it was something you ate…"

"The banana. It didn't taste right…"

Suddenly, Ebony grabbed the bowl, believing that she was about to throw up. Thankfully, though, she didn't.

"Do you want to phone home?"

"No," she said overly quickly.

"Huh? Why not?"

"I don't feel _that_ bad…" she protested – but she was proved false by the shivers that spread across her body. Even her _tail _shook, and it was quite warm inside the sick bay.

"I think you need to go home."

"I…can't."

"Why?" Aria asked quietly.

"...I haven't got a home…I've lived alone for as long as I can remember. I've never known my parents, either."

"But…where do you sleep? What do you eat? What on earth are you going to do?"

"I don't know…"

Aria thought a second, before coming up with an answer. "You can stay at my house, if you want."

"Your parents would have a fit…"

"Not really. If I explained that you don't have anywhere to stay…"

"They wouldn't want me there. No one in their right mind would."

"No, you're wrong. My parents aren't like that. Besides, what have you got to lose? If they _do _say you can't stay, well, at least you've tried, right?"

Ebony stayed quiet, as she thought for a moment. Phoenix delicately made her way over to me and licked my hand in gratitude. Draigas, nicely settled around my neck, practically purred. The human felt a short stream of conversation flow between the two Pokèmon, and while Aria couldn't understand it, it felt happy, somehow, so she knew that they weren't arguing or anything like that.

The melodic bell rang, signalling the end of the school day.

"Well?"

"…I'll see you tomorrow," the Neko-jin said, lurching unsteadily to her feet.

She couldn't walk straight, and Aria was about to help and insist they go to her house, but Draigas stopped her. This time, Aria really strained to understand her partner's reasons.

'_Pride.'_

"You mean, this way…she still has her pride in herself? That's a stupid thing to suffer for. Out there, she could die if it rains again!"

Draigas nodded – she understood her trainer's point of view, but knew there was nothing she could do.

"I suppose we can't force her, though, can we? And, the offer's still open, if she changes her mind… Hmm...alright, Draigas, let's get to this Communications lesson."

It turned out that there were only six in the lesson – Aria, Seig, Pasqua, Latto, a girl in the third year called Corrine, and a boy in the fourth year called David.

Aria was surprised by how easy the lesson was – it taught the children to sense emotions from their Pokèmon – which Aria could already do with ease. They were taught outside. Out in the open air, even Pasqua didn't seem as annoying, and Aria found it easy to forget her worries. Mr. Reese was a friendly and engaging teacher by nature - it was difficult to think of anything else except the lesson. One of Aria's favourite exercises was a simple game of reverse charades; the Pokemon were allowed to talk, and not allowed to move unless it was completely neccessary.

To finish the lesson, they had a game of Chinese whispers – where one Pokèmon thought of a word and told it to their trainer, the trainer told it to the next Pokèmon, who told it to their trainer…and so on. Of course, they ended up with completely different answers to the starting word, but slowly, they could see similarities between the two words - they _were _improving.

Aria thought it was weird, how much she _enjoyed _the after school lesson. As she made her way home through the steadily darkening night, though, with nothing to distract her, she thought about the Neko-jin again.

_'…Wherever you are, Ebony…please be safe…please be alright…'_ Aria thought to herself.

Well, either way, tomorrow would tell…

* * *

Okay, I was writing this when I was supposed to be doing a million and one other things…one of them being preparing a first draft of my 'To Kill A Mockingbird' coursework for my English open book exam…which I know a few of my readers can sympathise with (but choose not to, because they're evil…) 

Anyway - Rydia's banana? Based on a real life story. As is the 'Communications' lesson (I'm mad enough to do a lesson after school) Some of these 'based-on-real-life' events will pop up quite frequently - then others will be completely made up...

Oh, good luck to anyone with exams coming up soon, (I feel your pain!) and leave a review, please!


	8. Homecoming

One more exam left! Yay!

I don't own Pokèmon. I own Nia, Aria, Latto, Pasqua and Naois Genwyn, as well as filler background characters such as the woman in the early part of this chapter. Everyone else is either covered by copyright, or based on real people.

* * *

Ebony wasn't in for two days following the banana incident, and Aria was beginning to worry that she'd never be seen again. She was the only one seriously worried, though – she was the only one who knew that the Neko-jin was homeless. But she needn't have been concerned – Ebony appeared back in school on the Friday, her usual self – albeit with a firm resolve never to touch anything from Rydia's lunch ever again.

Aria soon became inseparable from Nannon, Tegg, Wraith, Ebony and Rydia. Together, they became known as the Beautifully Messed Up People, or the Guild of Assassins – it would depend on whom you talked to. The boys also tended to stick together – the boys being: Seig, Zero, Fossil and Haru. Although, Haru, to begin with, insisted he didn't need company, or – dare anyone mention the word – friends. But slowly, they wore him down, and now it was natural to see the half-Zora with the first years.

It was the first Saturday since Aria had started going to Saralli Caira; although, to her, it seemed like a lifetime ago that she hadn't been to the school. In a sense, it was another life ago – a life without Draigas…now, the thought was inconceivable.

Aria used to sleep quite late, then ate breakfast in a hurry and run to her previous school. Well, one of those habits was broken, at least. Aria now woke up early, ate as rapidly as ever and got to school in a hurry.

Now, it being the weekend when Aria woke, she sat up in her bed for a little while. She frowned – wasn't there something she was forgetting? Draigas slid over to her. Aria had become slightly better at understanding the dragon over the course of the week, and she could tell that Draigas wanted to tell her something.

'_Family?' _the dragon tried. Single words were just about all that got through.

"What about family?"

'_Visiting?'_

And with a crash, the memories fell into the space that had been a nagging feeling. Aria had made her mum promise to take her to her home world this weekend to visit her family!

Aria tumbled out of bed, grabbing some clothes and hastily pulling them on. Then, she rushed downstairs, almost running straight into her father.

"Sorry, Dad. I'm just excited…" she apologised rapidly.

"I know. We haven't forgotten our promise."

Her mother appeared in the doorway. "You think you're going dressed like that?"

Aria looked herself over. She was wearing a t-shirt and three-quarter length trousers.

"What's wrong?"

"Trust me, it'll be cold. It's winter, and winter in my country means frost at the least. Normally ice, and sometimes snow. Now, go and get something warm on – you'll need it."

The word snow echoed in Aria's mind as she changed her clothes, choosing a vest, t-shirt and jumper. All these layers made her feel uncomfortably warm in her home climate, and even then, her mother insisted that she take a coat. Then, holding each other tightly, Aria's mother sunk into a trance of sorts, and the world around them just melted away.

Aria could see nothing. They seemed to be in a colourless, matter-less space. Then, in an instant, colour rushed back.

Aria let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding and took a breath in – only to cough weakly.

"The air here tastes _foul_," she complained.

"It stands to reason that my people have only polluted the planet more in the time that I've been gone…" Nia murmured sadly.

Aria continued looking at this strange new world, with Draigas huddled close, mostly hidden inside Aria's clothes. Her first thought was of how cold it was, and while she was shivering uncontrollably, she didn't just mean the temperature. The ground they walked on seemed to be some kind of stone, painted with strange white markings. All the houses seemed devoid of life and character, made to one design repeated over and over. These were also stone, painted different colours in a futile attempt to cheer them up. To her left was a small field of grass, but even that seemed somewhat desolate and lonely. Perhaps it was the fence separating it from the road they trod on.

Was the fence to keep people out, or nature in?

But the biggest shock was all the machines. Huge metal vehicles drove up and down the roads at startling speeds – yet her mother didn't even flinch. Aria was finding it harder and harder to believe that her mother came from such a place. While her father eyed it with a distasteful air, it seemed he also accepted the place.

Draigas kept hidden as they walked up the street. It was barely three hundred yards up the slight hill that they stopped, crossed the machine's road and stood on the doorstep of a house that Nia claimed had been her childhood home.

Her family could tell how nervous the woman was, by the hesitant way she pushed the button by the door. She seemed surprised, however, when a young woman in her twenties opened the door.

"Oh… Hello. Sorry to disturb you, but would you happen to know a Julia Jones? She used to live here…"

The woman bit her lip and a shadow of sorrow crossed her face. Aria could see the bad news on her face before she even spoke.

"I'm sorry. She died close to two years ago," she said quietly.

Aria's mother was silent with a numb disbelief, which slowly died to a torrent of despair. Aria's dad awkwardly enveloped her mum in a hug, and she cried on his shoulder. But Aria just felt awkward and guilty – how could she mourn a grandmother she'd never known? As her mother sobbed, all she could do was watch. It felt weird to see an adult cry, much less her own mother. It was eerily unnatural, and if Aria could help it, she never wanted to see it again.

Eventually, her father took some control over the situation.

"I apologise. She wasn't expecting this," he explained, while still gently comforting his wife.

"I understand. She's Nia Jones, isn't she?"

Nia whipped round at the sound of her name. "How do you know?"

"When you ran away, there was a massive media attempt to try and find you, partially because Stephen Atkinson had run away so recently. You were almost as well searched for as that Madeline some-body-or-other that disappeared in Portugal…"

"But, that was around fourteen years ago! You can't remember news from that far back!"

"Well, I suppose I remember it because of the history in this house…"

"Speaking of which, how long have you lived here? Who did you buy it off?"

"Six months. And…Durell…"

"…Gareth Durell?"

"Yes – you know him?"

Nia sighed. "My stepfather…so, _he's _still alive…"

"If you want, I could give you his telephone number," the woman offered.

"I suppose so," Nia said unenthusiastically.

The woman looked at her watch for a while, pressing small buttons around it's edge. "If you wait a second, I'll send the number via Dentcrimson-"

"What?"

"You know, Dentcrimson?.." the woman failed at the puzzled look on all three faces. "Where on earth have you been?"

Nia attempted a smile. "For now, just assume we've been living under a rock on the dark side of the moon."

"My cousin's got a villa on the moon – nice for stargazing, not too much pollution…" she stopped when Nia stared.

"Oh, not literally…" she realised. "You really have no idea about…anything?"

"Nope, nothing at all in the past fourteen years," Nia confirmed.

"Well, Dentcrimson is…um, was Bluetooth around when-?"

"Yeah," Aria's mother broke in.

"Well, this is a faster version, with far more uses and a larger signal radius. I can send something to just about anywhere in the UK from here, instantaneously."

"Well, sorry, but we don't have anything 'Dentcrimson' compatible…" Nia apologised, only for Aria's Pokètech to buzz loudly.

Aria quickly checked the screen – 'receive transmitted data?' She pressed yes, and was rewarded with an eleven digit number.

"I stand corrected. Aria, can I borrow it, please?"

Aria nodded, handing her mother the device. After a few awkward button presses, Nia got the gadget to ring. A gruff voice picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Gareth speaking?"

"Yes. Is this for the I.A.M?"

Aria had no idea what I.A.M meant – she later found out it was a group called the Institute of Advanced Motorists that taught people the advanced techniques in motoring.

"No. It's…me, Nia…"

There was a sound of something crashing – to Aria's ears, it sounded like a china mug, and Nia could hear liquid dripping and splashing around.

"Good God, it isn't?"

"It is…do you think that you could give us your address so we can speak in person?"

"'Course."

Gareth then proceeded to give complicated directions using place names Aria couldn't recognise, or easily pronounce. However, her mother seemed happy enough with the directions, so Aria didn't worry. A few seconds afterwards, Nia hung up with more than usual enthusiasm.

"I never could stand him for long…"

"Oh, before you go, I think we still have a box of your stuff up in the attic. Do you want it?" the woman politely asked.

"I'd like to see, if that's alright."

"Of course, come in," she invited.

The family tentatively stepped over the threshold, and climbed the stairs. Back when Nia had lived here, the floor had been bare floorboards as a result of a half-done DIY job. Now, a thick, lush carpet covered the floor, and Aria was suddenly very conscious of her shoes, and how much mud they may or may not have on them. Nia idly wondered whether the carpet had been laid before or after the house had been sold. She supposed it didn't matter, though. On the landing, there was a technical looking panel built into the wall next to the light-switch. The owner of the house tapped a few buttons and panels and a ladder came out of the ceiling.

"Well, that's definitely a new addition…" Nia said, attempting a joke.

It failed miserably. The family climbed up the ladder at the woman's invitation. Nia saw it at once – for one thing, it was the only thing in the attic, and for another, it was marked with her name.

Nia opened the box with trembling hands, and gasped as its contents were revealed.

"Hey, Kratos. Have a look at this. It's so bizarre…like looking at a visual representation of my childhood…"

She handed a plastic case to her husband with a nostalgic smile. "Tales of Symphonia…why does this seem so familiar?" she said sarcastically.

Aria could tell it was supposed to be funny, from the half-smile on her father's face, but she didn't understand.

"And Aria, you should have a look at this…"

Aria peered into the box, to find a myriad of Pokèmon goods, from small electronic games to posters, cards, magnets, figurines and pictures.

"I thought you said that they didn't have Pokèmon here…" Aria started uncertainly.

"They don't have…alive Pokèmon. They believe that Pokèmon are just a figment of someone's imagination. A game…a television programme…just entertainment. They don't _believe_ it."

Draigas shrank further out of view.

"But…" Aria protested, although she couldn't find words to protest. Something about it just seemed wrong…

"Cheer up. If _we _know the truth, that's all that matters, isn't it?"

Aria nodded, the feeling of ill ease at bay, temporarily, at least.

"Right. Now, I think this should be yours," Nia said, handing the box to her daughter.

"Huh?"

"You'd find it funny, some of the stuff they made… Look, I'll put it in our wing pack," Nia said, and a few seconds later, the box seemed to disappear.

Aria had seen this before – they'd made the box incredibly small, so it fit into a bag of sorts. It would hardly weigh a thing either, so it would be perfect to transport.

"I believe Gareth is waiting for us?" Kratos interjected.

Aria made a mental note of this tactic her father used – he didn't directly order or remind, but suggested things subtly – she'd have to watch for that in the future.

They left, thanking the woman for her time and generosity, and breathed in the icy, polluted air of this world.

"I'm just thinking – which would be the fastest way?" Nia pondered to herself. "And should we walk? We haven't got any money for a bus or train…"

Aria trembled. "You say you have this power with air…couldn't we fly or something?"

"I wouldn't want people to see, and to go above the clouds in this weather, the air would be very thin up there," Nia explained after a short moment's pause. "Besides, I'd need to see where we were every so often – we'd be dipping in and out of clouds all afternoon…"

"Okay…" Aria admitted with a small shivering sigh.

"You're really cold, aren't you?"

"N…no…" she lied through chattering teeth.

Nia handed her daughter her coat. "Here, I can keep myself warm."

"T…thank you, mum."

The family walked through the lifeless urban streets.

"Where is everyone?" Aria wondered, as they encountered hardly any people.

"Probably watching television," Nia said contemptuously. "I can understand why they wouldn't come outside though – there are really high levels of nitrogen and sulphur as far as I can sense…if they stayed out for too long, especially in the rain, they could end up doing themselves serious damage."

Nia said all this in a choked voice.

"Mum, you're…crying…"

"I'm just so glad that you weren't born in this world…I'm so thankful. A world where everyone _has _to stay inside…where people _must_ isolate themselves…it's become a shell of its former self – and it wasn't brilliant to begin with. This is just what it has become in the villages – in the rural areas. What will the cities be like? All those people…"

Kratos drew her close – not quite a hug, but as close as they could get while still walking.

"I know your pain. All you can do is bear it. For now, you can do nothing," he whispered soothingly. "You feel all the problems of the world as if they were your own…I know how it feels, but you must let go."

Nia took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'll be alright. Now for something far more upsetting – meeting Gareth again."

"What's he like?"

Before Nia could answer, she found her husband was looking at her warningly.

"What?"

"We'd like the version without the profanities…"

"You know me too well… He's the most irritating person I have ever met, in all the worlds I have ever been to. He is always right, even when he's wrong, and no one or nothing could make him change his view. He's a little bit self-centred, couldn't live without his computer and _very_ controlling – he always got worked up over little details. And that was fourteen years ago…if he's followed the same pattern as this world has…we could be entering the first circle of hell…"

As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as Aria's mum had said. It was worse.

He lived in an old industrial town about a mile from the village that they'd started from. This didn't seem too bad, but the countryside was all either hills or busy tarmac roads, so Aria's feet ached after the short walk to the man's house. It was a fairly small, grey house on the corner of a winding road. Just beyond the house were large fields, pale with frost, despite the lateness of the day.

Nia looked at her family, almost as if willing them to _force _her to knock on the door. Then, with a sigh, she rang the doorbell. Three seconds later, Gareth appeared. He was a balding, slightly overweight man, in his early sixties, who was a good head shorter than Kratos, and at Aria's eye level – he was one of the few people that she didn't have to look up to see.

"You didn't tell me you had a family. Come on, come in," he said warmly.

Aria looked at her mother – Gareth _seemed _friendly enough, for all that Nia had warned them about him. And her mum had always been a good judge of character.

The three entered the house, and it took all of Aria's self control not to start coughing. The air was thick with white smoke, which Nia whispered was from a cigarette…or many cigarettes… He gestured for them to sit on a lumpy brown sofa. This was when Aria noticed the constant hum of the computer in the corner. Aria looked at her father – he seemed to detest the smoke-filled room. He had keen senses – as Aria knew from experience – so the disgusting smoke must have affected him far more. This gave his daughter the resolve to hold back a coughing fit.

He seemed stuck for anything to say, so Nia took the initiative.

"How did she die?" she asked suddenly and bluntly, keeping her voice even.

"…Julia?"

"Who else?" Nia said quietly, but certainly.

Aria knew that the quieter her mother was, the more dangerous and angry she was.

"…It was a terrible accident. Her car was stationary in front of a level crossing, but the car behind failed to stop in time, pushing her onto the track in front of a train…"

Both Nia and Kratos visibly flinched, while Aria went wide-eyed as she tried to imagine how that would feel – twisted metal cutting into your skin, crushing you and broken glass…

"She died from blood loss. An internal injury to the abdomen – she may have lived if not for that…"

Nia kept her face calmly composed. "What was the funeral like?"

"A small gathering – family only. She was cremated."

"Did your son go?"

"Yes," he said, now perplexed.

Nia narrowed her eye with a dangerous glint in them. "I see. Was he sorry?"

"For what?"

"You _know _what for!" she growled in a low tone, causing her daughter to shrink back away from her mother. "Was he sorry?"

"I don't believe he was remembering that far back," Gareth replied, at his most impassive.

"Where is he? I'll _make_ him remember if I have to…"

"He followed _your_ example. Ran away. Wasn't seen alive after that. He died in two weeks – he fell into a hypoglycaemic coma miles away from anywhere."

Nia's hand made a light fist, before uncurling itself, its owner knowing it was futile to threaten somebody already dead.

"Don't you dare try and blame this on me. It's what he would have wanted."

By know, Aria was thoroughly confused, and her mother seemed slightly calm, so she asked.

"Who's 'he'?"

"Siôn…he threatened my mum repeatedly with a knife when I was just a bit younger than you are now. I hated him after that, with good reason…eventually, we refused to have him live in the same house as us, so both him and Gareth moved out. He was diabetic – he needed injections of insulin to keep his blood sugar under control. A hypoglycaemic coma is when your blood sugar drops too low. If you are in it for too long, it starves your vital organs of the energy they need to work."

Aria allowed these facts to sink into place, and some of Nia's hate for her stepfather was explained.

"So," he coldly attempted light-hearted conversation. "How was your life after you ran away?"

"I met the most wonderful man in existence, fell in love and had the best daughter anyone could ever hope to ask for. We're comfortably well-off, and Aria goes to the most exclusive school in the area," Nia was also pretending to be civil, yet there was a savage pride in the way she talked about her life, as if daring him to disagree with her.

"Was it worth leaving Julia behind?" he suddenly asked, showing strains of anger.

"Don't talk as if I _wanted _to run away! You know nothing! You've always been ignorant of what's right in front of your nose!"

Kratos reprimanded his wife with a look, but she hardly paid attention. To her, Gareth had ruined her life until she'd run away and built her life for herself, far away.

"Mum…let it go…he's not worth it…" Aria protested weakly – the cigarette fumes had attacked the back of her throat, making her voice rough and painful to use.

Nia had mistaken her daughter's choked voice for tears, as she immediately lowered her tone.

"Sorry," she apologised to Gareth. "It's a painful topic at the moment. I ran away to protect her, but you wouldn't understand."

Nia got off of the sofa, and looked out the window with a sigh. "This whole world is wrong. When Stephen died, half of the balance of this world disappeared. When I left, all the balance of the world…just went haywire. And all of that is not all humans' fault…but this pollution just makes it worse. This world will die…whether it's in a few months, a few years or a couple of decades. There's nothing anyone could do, short of getting help from another world, and even then, things would be difficult…"

"Another world? Nia, you've become delusional…"

Kratos suddenly stood up, giving Gareth a glare that simply told him to shut up if he liked his neck the way it was now.

"Kratos, it's fine…most people in this world would think I'm mad for saying things like this," Nia admitted, easing her husband back into his seat. To Gareth, though, she replied, "That's always been your mentality, which is why you've always been ignorant. There's one thing I want you to accept before the end of this conversation. This is not the only world in existence."

"And how do you expect me to believe that?"

"I can travel to other worlds. Why do you think there's been no trace of my existence for fourteen years? And Stephen Atkinson, too?"

"There are ways of evading the government and police."

"For fourteen years? While having a family?"

"It's always possible."

Nia groaned, and Aria saw this as a perfect time to swallow her silence and add, "I was born in another world and lived there all my life."

Gareth seemed to ignore Aria – either he disregarded her point of view, or couldn't come up with an argument against her.

Draigas growled; having listened to the conversation so far, and suddenly slinked out of Aria's many layers of clothes and slapped Gareth with the tip of her tail.

He was stunned into silence, before fainting.

"Why did he do that?" Aria wondered, surprised by the man's actions.

"What? Faint? It's because he was trying so hard to block out what he saw as not real, and this was the easiest way for his mind to do it," Nia explained without any sympathy.

"In short, he fainted because of his own stubborn nature," Kratos summed up.

Nia was now looking at the computer in the corner of the room, without any regards for the unconscious figure. "I don't believe this – he's still running Vista on this machine – it must be, what…fifteen years out of date?"

She clicked on icons on the screen too fast for Aria to follow – she'd never seen a proper computer before, and it stunned her to know how easily her mother used it, even with fourteen years of it's absence.

"Let's see…oh, God, I have several hundred thousand e-mails…all of them spam…" she muttered to herself. "…And let's have a look…Yahoo's owned by Microsoft…Ebay has finally died…although Fanfiction-dot-net is still very much alive…funny…hmm…what about a map of Britain?…Oh, London's half underwater…England's looking very thin – that must have been the icecaps melting…Wales doesn't look too bad though, the hills must've saved us…"

"Nia, you're muttering," Kratos pointed out, with the air of someone who had pointed out the same thing several times.

"Oh, sorry." Nia surfed in silence, until… "Hey, look at this! It's a newspaper report from when I ran away! Oh, wow, mum _did _find my note and she opened a bird sanctuary…that must have been a lot of work for her."

"Bird sanctuary?"

"Yes, the last thing I said in my letter is to look after the birds in the area – I thought she'd just leave out some bread or something, though…"

"But with you mum…not being here…who's running this bird sanctuary?" Aria asked.

Nia typed in the name of the place into the search engine on the screen, and came up with the official website. "Pretty professional looking for a small place," Nia commented, lightly…before shouting excitedly.

"My Grandmother's still alive!! Grandma's still alive!"

Nia hit print, then almost ripped the paper out before the printer had finished.

"I take it we're going to see her, then?" Kratos asked.

"Of course! That is, if you two are okay with that…"

"You don't need to ask my permission to visit your own family," Kratos assured.

"And I was the one who wanted to meet my family in the first place!" Aria exclaimed.

Nia broke into a broad smile. "Well, it says here that the sanctuary is up the Black Mountains – that's only a short walk. So let's go!"

Kratos had a sincere smile on his face, too – how could he not be happy when his wife was so overjoyed? Aria, however, frowned; the 'Black Mountains' seemed to be a very foreboding name…

* * *

An extra long chapter – during the exams, too! Wow…

Siôn (pronounced exactly the same as Shaun) and Gareth are based on real people and events, to a certain degree. (the hypoglycaemic coma hasn't happened, but it's only a matter of time…although, a _hyper_glycaemic coma is far more likely to happen…) Anyway, if you are upset by any of the themes in this chapter…I'd like to give you a Helpline to call, but I don't have one. Just send a review, instead. Sympathy isn't a must…I've probably exaggerated…but, maybe not…you decide.


	9. Truth, Blood and Nekojin

I'm so sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I spent two days solid getting past a certain point (I blame unexpected visitors during the holidays – Rhiannon tried to kill me by taking me cycling!) Anyway, despite being late, I don't really like this chapter – there's a dream sequence in the middle which I like the idea of, but don't think I wrote it well enough!

I don't own Pokèmon, Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy X or any of their related characters…I do own Agorned, Nia, Aria, Aderyn, Pasqua, Latto and random filler background characters that aren't even named.

* * *

The family wound its way slowly up the lonely, desolate, windy range of hills named the Black Mountains. It had dark, near black, bracken growing in vast clumps on the hill, which they were either forced to skirt around or wade through. Aria assumed the bracken gave the mountain range its name, but her mother said the bracken hadn't always been that dark, and that the whole range of hills had been a dry, sandy straw-yellow.

Aria couldn't help but shiver at the strong mountain winds that seemed to penetrate all of her layers of clothes and steal her body's warmth. The wind bit at her skin with icy teeth, even with her attempts to hide behind her mother.

Led by Nia, they took narrow tarmac tracks and stepped gingerly over cattle grids, until Aria was perfectly sure that they were lost in the barren countryside. Occasionally, Nia stopped, listening to something inaudible to her daughter, then – presumably using whatever she'd heard – left the road to cut across stony, squelching fields. Aria was about to tell her mother that they were lost, and that they should turn back while they still had a vague sense of direction left, when a large grey bird dove from the skies above, landing on Nia's outstretched arm.

The bird gave a satisfied screech as Nia ran her fingers quickly over his feathers, checking for any injuries.

"You're right, you have almost healed," she told the bird. "Let's see how strong your wings are."

The raptor flapped its wings so powerfully that his body would have been lifted off its temporary perch if it weren't for his powerful talons gripping Nia's arm.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Aria wondered – the skin on her mother's arm looked taught under the bird's grip.

"Not really. I'm used to real pain – this is only a little discomfort."

"Can you lead us to the sanctuary, please? I need to talk to Aderyn."

The falcon flapped his way into the air, and although it took a lot of flapping and effort to get up there, once at a comfortable height, he could glide easily and almost effortlessly, with only the smallest movements of his wingtips and tail to steer.

They followed the bird up the rise until a few large wooden cabins came into view. Birds of all descriptions circled this place, landing on its roofs or thoughtfully placed perches. None of them seemed to be there against their own free will, despite there being many birds that would normally prey upon each other.

Nia rushed forward with barely contained excitement – she would finally be reunited with her own family…after all these years…

On of the cabin's doors opened, revealing a woman in her mid-eighties. She was quite lean, despite her age, with snow-white curly hair and piercing green eyes. She had the look of someone who had once looked very beautiful, and her face was refusing to lose those last few shreds of beauty. She smiled broadly, giving her granddaughter a firm hug.

"I'm back," Nia said weakly, returning the hug.

"I know. I…we all missed you."

When they broke apart, both Kratos and Aria felt awkward, not quite knowing what to do or say.

"You'd all better come in – this pollution can't be doing you much good."

While they all entered the smallest cabin without hesitation, Nia argued with this.

"I actually feel alright – I think I could survive here just by breathing with all the sulphur in the atmosphere. After all, it's flammable, so I don't need to refuel on other materials…"

"And what about everyone else?"

Kratos gave a small noise at this. "I stopped breathing within the first two minutes of being here."

Nia seemed to remember her place after that. "I'm so sorry! Kratos, Aria, this is Aderyn Jones, my grandmother. Grandma, this is Kratos, my husband, and Aria, our daughter."

"It's very nice to meet you both," the old woman said, showing no surprise at finding she had a great-granddaughter. "Aria, were you alright walking in this world?"

"I thought the air was disgusting in the first few seconds, but it got clearer… wait, you know we're from another world?" Aria asked, shocked.

Nia smiled. "I made a filter that allowed only a thirty odd percent oxygen mix in to her lungs, but kept out impurities. Not too difficult when I've been practising using my power over the air when Aria wouldn't notice," she said to her grandmother. Then, to her daughter, "She has the same powers over fire and air I do, including being able to travel between worlds."

"I haven't practised as well as you have, though, Nia. You are far stronger than I ever was at these things. I wouldn't have dared mess with the air for that long, especially air that was entering someone's lungs. I would have been too terrified to keep it up for longer than five minutes."

"Well, when life gives me a problem, I like to be able to sort it quickly and on my own," Nia said.

"Even though you don't have to deal with everything on your own," Kratos reminded her.

"I know…I still like to be independent, though."

"So, what have you been doing for all this time?"

"We've been happy. I never thought I'd get to say that, not at one point, where it looked like everyone was either dead or dying…where my friends were fighting against each other…" Nia cast a glance over at her husband, whom was obviously recalling the same events, as he winced. "But now…everything seems to be alright. It was a shock to come back and find that mum had d-died, but…it was an accident. No one was to blame. It was a…normal…death."

Aderyn nodded slowly, a sombre expression on her face. "At first, when I heard, I feared it was the Genwyns, despite you not being here, but there's no trace of them…"

"Unfortunately, _we've_ found them. Or at least Naois – she's working at Aria's school. However, she doesn't seem to know about Aria, or isn't interested if she does know…" Nia trailed off, slightly uncertain.

"…and she's still going to that school?" Aderyn asked incredulously. "You can't be thinking it'd be _safe _for her?.."

" Aria wouldn't forgive me if I forced her to leave the school now. It's the most exclusive school where we live, definitely, but possibly in the whole of that world…she couldn't get a chance like this anywhere else. Besides, remember when you were fourteen? You – with only Stephen's granddad for any kind of help – had regular clashes with the Genwyn family, and you're still alive. So am I, come to think about it. She can look after herself – she's promised me."

"But you wouldn't _put _her in danger…not when it can be avoided…"

"It would seem more suspicious if Aria were to leave her school now," Kratos pointed out. All three of the females looked to him to explain.

"Currently, Aria has a place in an extremely good school. You can't buy a place in it; you have to have a certain level of ability. Once in that school, no parent would withdraw their child from there, and doing so would cause questions to be asked, correct?"

Aderyn shifted uncomfortably under this logic. "I won't say any more on the topic. Besides, I have some important things you should know."

An unsettling atmosphere fell over the family; they knew this would impact on them already, without knowing why.

"This world is dying. It was doomed from the second Stephen died."

"…Explain."

"The Jones family and Atkinson family exist to keep this world in balance. That is why we come into our powers naturally, at the age of twelve. Everyone has a power, yet it rarely awakens. And nobody, in any world has an elemental power, apart from our family."

"I know all this," Nia muttered impatiently. "Other worlds keep in balance through other methods. The world Aria was born in has the legendary dogs and birds, as well as the Regi's; Symphonia has its Summon Spirits; and Hyrule has its sages. There is a 'balance' for every single world in existence."

"Therefore, if one of the bloodlines that form the balance ends, then the world will die, from the chaos formed by the elements."

"Stephen may be dead, Grandma…but his bloodline isn't. He has a son."

"What? But he was only…"

"Fourteen, fifteen when he died."

"But…"

"I think it'd be a bit hypocritical of _us _to say anything," Nia muttered with a meaningful glare towards her grandmother – who was remarkably young for a great-grandmother…

"…So…there is still someone left of the Atkinsons?"

"Yes, he goes to school with Aria. Did you say his name was Haru?"

"Yes," Aria answered, before attempting – and failing – to stifle a large yawn.

"I think the second thing I wanted to talk about will have to wait – it looks like someone's getting sleepy," Aderyn said in a singsong voice.

Aria didn't bother to argue – noticing that outside, the sky was growing steadily darker – she just nodded instead.

"There's a small guest room down the hallway on the right. The bathroom's at the end of the corridor – no en suites, I'm afraid, but you'll just have to live with that," Aderyn told her great-granddaughter.

"No, that's fine. Thank you."

Aria wasn't allowed to escape to bed before receiving an awkward hug from her great-grandmother, then, she hugged her father and mother with earnest.

She was lying in a small, yet comfortable bed barely five minutes later, wondering to herself, and Draigas curled beside her, what would tomorrow bring? After all, this was a strange world that her mother called home…

The bed was extremely comfortable, and Aria felt she was going to sink into it. Then she realised that she wasn't sinking – she was flying. Flying high above a beautiful landscape she couldn't quite see…and above her, her mother and great-grandmother were flying too. She strained to get higher – to reach the rest of her family, but the more she tried, the more she fell. She plummeted to the ground, then through it, sinking towards a hot planet's core. She felt her dream self disintegrate under the intense heat – it was then that she realised that this was in fact a dream, yet try as she might, she couldn't wake up.

She became tiny fragments of molten lava and circled the world's core, now at peace with the terrific heat. She drifted up, out of the core, and for a second, feared she'd cool down and become rock in the many layers of the planet. Yet she kept drifting upwards until she was in the open air again, drifting across the wind. And she saw so much drifting as dust.

In a dilapidated shed, a girl with cat ears and a feline tail was trying to warm herself on a tiny fire made of sticks and dry leaves, with a Vulpix nestled against her and a kitten curled into her lap. Aria drifted on, to find a boy being injected with an unknown substance, and a shivering, terrified Eevee in a cage nearby.

She found a tall, lonely girl driven to solitude merely because there was no one else…yet, out of a hazy fog, a girl with her constant Poochyena companion relieved the loneliness. Then, a fish stood alone in a crowd of jeering people, a girl was separated by a prison of clouds…then, images began to flash faster.

A soulless girl, an injured boy, blood on hands, blood on skin…

Aria was crying – she wanted to wake up! Why couldn't she wake up?! Suddenly, she did wake, thanks to Draigas noticing her restless sleeping. Aria realised that she had been crying even as she awoke, and she held the dragon close to her. Everything felt like blood – when she closed her eyes, a crimson fog enveloped them. There was a slight smell of dry blood – she could almost taste it in the air. Aria shook with her tears, she couldn't even remember the dream, now its details were disappearing in her fully awake mind, but she knew it was drenched in misery and pain and she didn't ever want to sleep again, not if that's what she would dream…

All three adults seemed surprised to see her awake so early.

"The sun hasn't really risen, yet," Nia said gently, to explain their reactions.

"Mum, this world is just…odd…" Aria complained weakly.

Aria had decided to blame the nightmare on her location, in this world, as it made the most sense.

"Everything just feels dull and lifeless and dead here compared to home…it scares me."

"I know," her mother sighed sympathetically. "I always got the feeling that this world was crazy and…wrong, even before travelling to other worlds."

"Which brings us rather nicely to what I was trying to say last night," Aderyn interrupted. "The government is planning something. I'm not sure what, but there have been odd events lately. People disappearing, people that never existed appearing…of course, most people don't even notice this, as they rarely go outside, let alone find out what's happening in their neighbourhood. I've also been monitoring internal government messages."

"Grandma, when did you get all hi-tech? When I left, you didn't even have the Internet!" Nia asked in surprise.

"I just had to learn, like everyone else. Otherwise, you can't get a message to anyone these days. Anyway, take a look at this."

Aderyn handed a sheet of printed out paper to Nia, and Aria shot to her mother's side to read over her shoulder.

"Subjects received. Transportation to site five-zero-seven-nine imminent. Will send once confirmation is received…" Nia read. "This could mean anything, though…"

"Read this one before you dismiss me," Aderyn said firmly, handing another sheet of paper over.

"Resistance met during transportation. Subjects zero-five-nine to zero-six-eight terminated, also five civilians injured. Silencing needed for civilians."

"Terminated?" Aria asked with a shaking voice – Draigas had wound round her arm, squeezing gently to reassure her already scared trainer.

"…Killed…nine of them were killed…"

"Whatever they're doing – they want to keep it secret."

"But this could look a lot worse than it is…" Nia attempted to argue, but her own uncertainty showed in her voice.

"I saw Desian reports that were more comforting," Kratos said bluntly. "This has bad news written all over it."

"Desians?" Aria asked, confused, as she accepted the offer of toast for breakfast.

Nia took it upon herself to explain. "In your father's home world, they were an organization of…bad people…"

"That's a bit simple, isn't it? Categorising someone into good or bad so quickly…"

Nia sighed. "Well, they were a group of half-elves whom enslaved humans in order to produce power-enhancing stones. In their defence, they were horribly discriminated against by humans before, during and after this… In any case, we're losing sight of the current issue…"

"Even if we do establish what is going on, how are we going to stop it?" Kratos asked practically.

"With a bit of force, and some stealth," Aderyn answered, matter-of-factly.

It was then that Aria was perfectly sure: her whole family was crazy! She had barely woken up – from a terrifying dream, no less – and already they were on the subject of corrupt governments and an old age pensioner had got it into her head that she'd be the one to bring back justice. This was utter madness!

Aria sighed – she should have been ready for something like this from the moment that her mother revealed she was from another world…

"We need a location that we can actually recognise, to begin with," Kratos said tiredly – maybe Aria wasn't the only one to think this was mad…

"By hacking into multiple transmissions, I have the coordinates of the sites they're using tonight. One of them is the old quarry – remember, we used to walk the dogs up there…"

"Yes, I remember. It stopped being a quarry before I was born and it was made an area of special scientific interest. When I left, there was at least one peregrine falcon nesting there, and nature was slowly reclaiming the rocky soil…it was one of the few places that I liked here…" Nia said nostalgically.

"It was closed to the public two years ago, although no one noticed or complained – it was too far to go without needing a face mask from the nearest villages, so no one ever went there. Whatever they're planning happens at noon today…"

"Noon? But all this is happening in broad daylight…"

"Which, in these times, is just as safe and secret as midnight."

"We should intercept it – whatever they're trying to transport. Find out what's happening from the inside," Kratos suggested.

"It depends. We need to survey the place, first, and see what is possible to do."

Nia's logic shook Aria – she'd never heard her mother plan out things in this way. She had always been aware that her mother had had a life before she was born, but it was only now that she truly wondered what had happened during her life…

Aria ate a quick breakfast – Nia and Aderyn didn't eat, and Kratos chose not to – before setting off. It took them ten minutes to get to the ex-quarry, using an old, run down car that belonged to Aderyn. The ride down the bumpy mountain made Aria quite queasy – she was used to catching the bus from one side of the island to another, but her island was relatively flat, and the buses didn't attempt to go round narrow corners at break-neck speeds. They parked a short walk away, as parking right outside the quarry would definitely give them away.

It was far too quiet – birds, if they still lived here, didn't sing, and nothing dared to rustle the leaves of trees, not even the wind. This illustrated Aria's point about this world perfectly – it just seemed hollow, and dead. They came to a large metal mesh gate that blocked the path into the quarry.

First, Nia and Aderyn examined the gate, wondering if the best way in would be perhaps to melt the lock, or a patch in the mesh. They were reminded, though, that they wanted to remain unknown, and they'd have to repair the gate so it looked exactly the same as it did now. While this was easy enough for Nia, at least, it would take time, and this was something they didn't have a lot of, with two hours until the arrival time.

Five minutes of searching revealed a path through the bushes at the side of the fence.

"Some fortified entrance this is," Nia scoffed.

"Like I said, they wouldn't be expecting anyone to go poking around these days. And if they did, they'd take one look at the padlock and go. People are so close-minded these days, and with no resolve to finish what they start…"

Needless to say, they snuck in through the bushes, taking care to leave them as they were found so they didn't arouse any suspicions. Once inside, Nia tapped everyone's shoulders, and pointed at a camera built into the rock face. They should stay out of sight of that, and keep an eye out for any more. They crept along, using trees and rocks for cover.

Aria silently thanked her taste in clothes – she was comfortable, warm and wasn't going to trip over, which is more than most teenagers would be able to say if thrust into her situation. This was especially apparent when having to skirt around a small, shallow pond over some large boulders, while still staying small against the rock to stay hidden. Eventually, the path led to a large, circular rock face that reached up for ages – a very big and echoing dead end.

"Now what?" Aria whispered, and even her low whisper rang against the rock face.

"Follow and be quiet," her father intoned bluntly, giving Aria the impression that he was used to giving orders in harsh conditions.

They climbed part of the way up the rock face, Aria feeling very exposed and felt as if she were about to fall off the smooth surface with barely any handholds. They perched on a ledge hidden in shadow and hoped they wouldn't be seen. It seemed they were just in time – barely a minute after they'd scrambled up there, there was the loud noise of engines drawing closer. They sounded big, and when they drew into view, it was seen that the engines belonged to vast lorries.

The lorries reversed into the clearing, leaving very little clearance on either side. What room there might be to escape was guarded by figures dressed solely in black. They wore some form of plastic-looking armour over long black tops. Not an inch of their skin was exposed to the air; they wore great, black boots, leather gloves, a high-necked top, a mask over their lower faces, and what looked like a motorcycle helmet with a visor. The only way to distinguish them apart was height.

Apart from black, these figures wore a lot of weapons. A heavy looking gun was strapped to each of their backs, everyone of them carried smaller guns on holsters worn at the knee, hip and under the arm. Aria began to wonder how they managed to walk.

"Any major changes in warfare since I've been gone?" Nia asked her grandmother quietly.

"Still using bullets, as far as I know. They may be faster and more accurate than before, though."

"Thanks. I have a feeling we'll need to ambush them. Aria – stay here. I don't want you to move from this spot, got it?"

Aria was about to argue, but a glare from all three adults silenced her. They were probably going to pull the too young, too weak or too inexperienced card on her – she knew to keep her mouth shut. Besides, did she really want to volunteer to do something that could, very quickly, get her killed?

"Good. We'll be fine – we're used to things like this. You aren't. And the last thing we need is to be looking over our shoulders during a fight. You do understand, right?"

Aria nodded, she understood – she was useless, in this situation, at least, and if she forced herself to be useful, she'd only become a burden.

The backs of the lorries were being undone, and humans without facemasks were being forced out.

To Aria, the stench of blood thickened – without facemasks, these people would have serious damage to their lungs, if not die, within a couple of hours. Everyone of the people were trying hard not to cough, because it would draw attention to themselves. All of the people being offloaded were wearing casual clothing, and everyone had some form of large hat on their head, whether it was a headscarf, a newsboy cap or a turban.

One of the people gave into a fit of violent coughs, and the precariously balanced turban on his head fell to the floor, revealing a pair of cat-like ears – just like Ebony. Aria gasped in recognition of the feature, just as a gun was fired at the man. Everyone below screamed – yet Aria couldn't see where the bullet had penetrated. And then she noticed it, hovering barely five centimetres from his head. She knew – instinctively – that her mother had stopped it.

All three adults jumped off their perch, free-falling down to the ground below. They landed as softly as a feather – no doubt because of the two women's power over air. A fast and ferocious battle ensued – intense fire shot from one end of the rocky quarry to the other, the loud sounds of gunshots echoed around the stony walls, and those with cat-ears ducked to the ground, trying to find shelter from the fighting. But far more impressive than all of this was Kratos. He was moving so quickly; he was almost impossible to track, except if one kept their eyes on the flashing metal of his blade as he felled enemies in an instant.

The fight barely lasted a minute, but for that full minute, Aria was wide eyed at the ease in which her parent's dispatched the guards. Slowly, the cat-eared people lifted themselves off the ground, staring at Nia, Aderyn and Kratos.

The adults scanned the area quickly, in case of any more trouble, before deciding that it was safe.

"Aria, jump down," Nia said, in a tone that promised she'd be safe.

Aria knew she would be alright, having seen her parents do much the same thing, yet she could help looking down at the ground and shrinking back from the edge. However, something pushed her from behind, and she went flying forwards. Aria glared at Draigas – who had obviously pushed her. Draigas merely gave a dragon's grin back and enjoyed the flight.

Aria had to admit – she was enjoying this. She was falling far more slowly than her parents had, earlier, and landed, if anything, softer than they had. On landing, though, she could smell burnt flesh and blood.

"Mum!" she shouted, giving her a tearful hug.

"It's okay. I told you we'd be alright, didn't I?"

"You could have been hurt…"

"They were rather weak opponents," Kratos said.

"I had no idea you could fight like that, Dad…"

"I still stay in practice," he admitted.

But something plagued Aria's mind. "Why were they rounding up Neko-jin?" she wondered, and every one of the cat people flinched, including one who was putting his turban back on.

All the adults looked at Aria.

"You've come across one of us before?" a woman with soft brown hair and wearing pale blue clothes asked quietly.

"One of my friends at school," Aria mumbled shyly.

She was aware of all the eyes in the quarry on her, and she didn't like the attention.

"I suppose we owe you thanks, and an explanation," a handsome young man with bottle green ears and tail to the adults.

"No thanks are needed, although I have to admit I am curious to how you ended up like this…"

"The Neko-jin originate from Agorned, another world-"

"Why does everything seem to start with Agorned?" Nia wondered to herself.

"I'm sure you know that it was the Agornedians who first learnt to use their demons to travel between worlds. So, people from Agorned have been able to influence many worlds."

Nia nodded, as if this made sense to her. To Aria, though, it was yet another episode of her parent's confusing past, and she'd now given up trying to understand it all.

"Once, there were two races in Agorned, us, the Neko-jin, and humans. Our people were traditionally fishing people, although, in time, we became hired assassins. After all, we naturally possess good balance and agility, and brilliant eyesight in the dark. However, you can't be in a line of work like that without acquiring some enemies, and eventually, the majority of us were forced to leave Agorned. Those that were left lived peaceably, and did nothing to provoke the humans, some even going as far to fall in love with humans and start families among them.

"But for us, chased out of our home, we lived a nomadic life, together in groups. We would travel from world to world, living off the land and having as little contact with the native inhabitants as possible. And normally, there wasn't a problem. It was only in this world…we were captured, for no reason and brought here. Who knows what they'd have done to us, if you hadn't intervened …"

"On behalf of the people of this world, I am gravely sorry," Nia said solemnly. "I can only guess at why they've done this. My people tend to fear what they don't understand, and they've never seen Neko-jin before, my guess is that they wanted to study your anatomy to see how you are different…"

"Why would they need so many of us, though?"

"Again, they fear what they don't understand. They wouldn't let you go around unchecked, so they captured you all. I don't think you'll be safe in this world. I'd leave now, if I were you," Nia advised.

The man nodded. "Alright everyone – we'll meet up in world seventeen 'a', alright?"

Most of the cat people disappeared, but a couple stayed behind.

"The Neko-jin you know – what is her name?"

"Ebony," Aria said slowly.

"Must be my sister's child – she always did say she liked the name Ebony…" one of the Neko-jin said.

"If you're her family, how come she's all on her own?" Aria asked, with a quiet anger that she'd inherited from her mother.

"I don't know for sure. We lost my sister on the way through a particularly dangerous world, and we assumed she was dead. But she's the only one it could be… We don't know what's happened to her since then. Could you perhaps tell us where your friend is?"

"I don't think she'd like that," Aria insisted quietly. "To her, you look like you've abandoned her. I don't think she could forgive you, even if she knew the truth. And she's been looking after herself for so long – she doesn't _want _help. I'll pass on a message, if you want."

"Just tell her she's not alone, and that we'll wait in world seventeen 'a' for a few months. If she doesn't want to come…well, that's her choice."

"Excuse me," Nia interrupted. "What is world seventeen 'a'? I don't normally assign numbers and letters to worlds, and I'm not sure Ebony would understand."

"Oh, of course. It's known as Spira to its inhabitants, does that help?"

"Yes – hang on, how is Ebony meant to search Spira on her own? It's a big place…"

"She can follow her nose."

And with that, the reminder of the Neko-jin filed away.

"We'd better be heading home, too," Nia said with a sigh. "Otherwise Aria will never wake up in time for school tomorrow."

"Hey!" Aria protested, only to be ignored.

"Well, feel free to visit any time – you know where I live," Aderyn said, enveloping everyone – even Kratos – in a hug, in that way that only old people can seem to get away with.

Aria and her parents left reality and so ended a rather mixed and confusing weekend.

* * *

With my opening and ending ramblings, this has come to thirteen pages (over 5 thousand words…longest chapter!). Anyway, we're just about at the end of Aria's sequence! The next chapter will be very short – probably just a fluffy moment, maybe a small battle (any suggestions, send them in a review!)

Can you _please_ review? The most disappointing thing for me is hearing that someone has read this, and then, when I ask him or her why I haven't had a review, they say 'I couldn't be bothered.' It's only an extra minute, if that, so please, make a stressed authoress happy!


	10. Emotional Memories

I swear, I wrote the beginning of this chapter, looked at it, and said words to the effect of: 'Wow, Aria is PMS-ing big time!' I typed it up…and still think much the same!

I don't own...uh...anything under copyright? I'm making no profit from this, let's put it that way.

* * *

Aria would have thought, in her own bed, and in her home world, the nightmare wouldn't have bothered her again. Yet, blood haunted her dreams yet again, along with a prevailing sense of impending suffering that she couldn't seem to shake, not even when she woke, and the sunlight burnt off the morning hazy fog.

Aria left the house with barely a word to her mum; for some reason she didn't feel like speaking much, or at least, not to her. The shock of the weekend and the weight of her mother's newly realised past seemed to crush her, along with the dreams she'd had for the past two nights.

She was practically slamming her feet against the beaten earth track as she walked to school, despite only going at a slow walk. Draigas trailed slowly behind her, reluctant to get in her trainer's way, and risk drawing any of that anger upon herself. However, her curiosity got the better of her.

'_Why are you angry?' _she asked gently and slowly, as if too fast a question would provoke her.

"I don't know!" Aria shouted, her loud voice echoing off the nearby trees. This shook her, and she immediately lowered her voice. "Sorry. I suppose it's just…I don't really know why I'm angry, and that only makes it worse…"

The concept of being angry without even knowing why was foreign and confusing to the dragon, so she tried to help her trainer with providing a reason.

'You could be angry with your parents – for keeping so many secrets from you…' 

"Perhaps," Aria said unenthusiastically. "It's more like I'm angry with her world…"

'_It makes sense – it was a horrible place.'_

"In my dreams…all I see now is blood…" Aria went suddenly quiet, sparkling tears trickling down her cheeks.

Draigas just felt helpless at the sight of her tears. _'Please, don't cry,' _she said weakly.

Aria sniffed. "I'm sorry," she apologised, making Draigas feel absolutely wretched now.

Aria was discretely wiping her eyes on her sleeves, forcing Draigas to take an unusually keen interest in a small stone on the floor until she'd finished. They were well within the school grounds by now, and without noticing, they'd drifted slightly westwards.

Both the human and dragon travelled in silence for a few minutes, until the firm, earthy ground began to be rough, sandy dunes that crumbled and slid beneath Aria's feet. The grasses became sparse and scrubby – their roots finding little to hold onto in the dunes.

Aria scrambled to the top of a steep dune, no doubt getting sand in her shoes, yet she was past caring. From it's tip, both Aria and Draigas could see a gently glistening ocean, which was a beautiful, tropical hue of turquoise. The sea was so clear that Aria could see shoals of Remoraid darting around in the shallows, warming their bodies in the morning sun.

They tumbled down the sandy slope, Aria almost tripping over her own feet, to get closer to the sea. Down here, the sand was soft, fine, and already warmed from the sunlight. Aria gazed at the sea with moist, mournful eyes, and Draigas knew she wasn't truly seeing this calm paradise of a beach, but a place where a grey sky overlooked coarse, cold sands and a violently stormy-blue sea.

It was a shame, the dragon thought, that she couldn't see the beauty of the present.

Draigas' senses could taste salt on the slight breeze blowing in from the sea, and the gentle warmth of the sun in its cloudless sky. The sun would soon become far hotter and stronger within a couple of hours, the dragon knew.

Aria dropped to the sand with a sigh, still looking out to sea.

"Draigas?"

_'Yes?'_

"I really am sorry I'm like this. I just can't stop feeling…" Aria gave a deep sigh. "I'm not even sure what I'm feeling anymore."

Draigas playfully head butted Aria's arm in response. _'Humans think too much. Who cares what happened in the past? It's been and done. Us dragons don't bear a grudge against anyone very easily. We are just too laid back. You just have to live for now…okay?'_

"It sounds so easy when you say it like that…" Aria said quietly.

Suddenly, a light, haunting melody swept in off the sea, like a fog implanted in Aria's mind; for the more of the sweet song she heard, the more blank her mind seemed to become. It was a low, crooning lullaby that Aria found herself lulled by. Her eyes became heavy, and eventually, she fell back onto the soft sand, fast asleep.

Draigas struggled against the sleep-inducing song far harder than her trainer, yet she was almost asleep when the song stopped. Draigas shook her head sleepily, trying to wake herself up, then when she realised that wasn't working, she dipped her head into the sea, banishing the sleep from her mind. It was then that she turned to find the source of the song.

A Lapras floated calmly on the surface of the ocean, watching the dragon, and her now peacefully slumbering trainer.

'_Why did you use Sing on my trainer?' _Draigas asked indignantly – she felt an instinctive need to protect Aria.

_'She looked as though she could use a peaceful night's sleep. Although, it isn't exactly night anymore, is it?'_

A kind nature exuded from the water Pokèmon, and Draigas knew the Lapras' intentions were benign.

'_She's had a difficult couple of days,' _the dragon admitted.

_'If a difficult day is followed by a difficult sleep, another day's difficulty lies ahead. At least, that's what my mother always used to say.'_

'_You could tell she's had nightmares?'_

'_Most Pokèmon and humans don't realise how astute we are,' _the Lapras said with a light laugh. _'Any Lapras could tell just by looking at her.'_

'_Luckily, we know of your kind and peaceful natures, though,' _Draigas said, flattering the water Pokèmon to make up for her earlier ignorance.

While human emotions and logic didn't always make sense to the dragon, she found it inconceivable that humans could not make sense of a Pokèmon's logic and manners. For example, she had paid the Lapras a small insult with her ignorance, and so had felt bound by a strict moral code to make amends.

_'Thank you – I'm glad we have such a reputation built up.'_

The Lapras, in turn, couldn't reject the flattery without being ungracious, and a flat out rejection of the flattery would be considered a gross insult.

_'Does your trainer need to be awake anytime soon?'_ the Lapras, with a sudden thought, asked in concern.

_'She has an hour before school starts, so she'll be fine. We may need to wake her up ten minutes early, though,'_ Draigas explained.

_'I'm sorry for not thinking of that earlier – I could have severely inconvenienced you,'_ the Lapras apologised with a rigid, formal tone.

_'Not at all. If we did have an urgent meeting or anything of the sort, it would have been my duty to keep her awake.'_

Their conversation was abruptly halted by a mess of brown hair and the human it belonged to clambering over a sand dune. Draigas recognised the boy as Latto before the Furret near his feet came into view, bounding up and down in an energetic effort to keep his head above the sand.

Latto spotted Aria lying motionless on the sand and immediately feared the worst, if the strangled yell and the frantic run to get to her meant anything. Unfortunately, the yell roused Aria from the deep sleep, and she sleepily staggered to her feet to see an extremely confused Latto.

Draigas, taking her rightful side near to Aria explained.

_'A Lapras used Sing so you'd get some decent sleep, and Latto, when he came, thought you were dead or injured, or something.'_

Judging by the frantic chatter from Bandit, following Draigas' explanation, he was relaying the message to his trainer, who suddenly gained a look of dawning comprehension.

"I'm sorry!" he apologised profusely. "I just thought you were in trouble!"

"No, I was fine. Draigas wouldn't have let anything happen to me, anyway."

"True…anyway, I wondered if I could find you before school starts, and here you are."

With a sudden realisation, Aria yelped, "How long was I asleep for? How much time have we got before school starts?"

"Relax, we have the best part of an hour, still," the boy replied, smiling at Aria's reaction.

The Lapras whispered something to Draigas, who tried to pass this on to her trainer.

_'The Lapras who sung you to sleep…she wants you to become her trainer.'_

Aria's eyes went wide. "What?" she asked incredulously, unable to believe her ears.

The Lapras drifted serenely towards them, not fazed by the fact that either of them could start a battle at any moment.

Aria knew the Lapras was talking, but couldn't understand the water Pokèmon. Luckily, Draigas translated for her.

_'She may not be the strongest of Pokèmon, but she's determined and kind hearted. She can sense that you'd be a good trainer for her, and she'd be willing to work hard for you. That's what she says, anyway.'_

"I'm honoured, really I am. But why do you want a trainer in the first place? Wouldn't you prefer to be wild?"

_'She knows her kind are highly sought after, despite their rarity – or perhaps that's why they are rare…but, in any case, she's grown up knowing that one day she will be captured, and she'd prefer to choose her trainer for herself.'_

Draigas feared this would be a concept the girl would have a difficult time understanding, but to her surprise, her trainer thought quietly, and seemed to accept this idea without any questions.

"Draigas. What do you think about this? And be honest – it's better you admit any problems with this sooner rather than when it's too late."

_'You're asking my opinion?'_

Draigas had never heard of a trainer doing that before, normally they acted on their own and the Pokèmon cleared up the shit they got into afterwards. But with a smiling nod from Aria, the dragon gave her opinion.

_'She seems very nice and I can get on with her easily. She's thoughtful, and isn't inclined to make rash decisions too often. If anything, the only problem I can see is your experience – you've only been a trainer for a week, and you might find it a bit difficult to train us both at the same time. But, you are hardworking – I think you would be all right with that.'_

"So, then, it's settled," Aria said, turning to the Lapras with a grin. "If you want me to be, then I shall be your trainer."

This time, Aria clearly understood the Lapras. _'Thank you.'_

"I should be thanking you," she replied. "Anyway, do you have a name?"

_'Lazuli.'_

"Well, welcome to the team, Lazuli! My name is Aria, and this is Draigas."

Lazuli made a comment that Aria couldn't understand, but all the Pokèmon present snickered at.

"What?"

_'She said you're very polite…for a human.'_ Draigas half-laughed.

"Hey, what's so funny about that?"

To Aria's surprise, it was Latto who answered.

"Pokèmon are very formal towards each other unless they know one another very well. Bandit keeps trying to explain why, but can't quite seem to make his point. From what I can understand, though, it's to stop a great deal of hostility from building up between Pokèmon, as they're always fighting…"

"Oh. That makes sense, I suppose," Aria reasoned, yet not fully understanding.

_'It doesn't matter if you don't understand,'_ Draigas assured her trainer. '_It's good enough that you just know that we are quite polite to each other…wait, that's what seemed so off about that Eevee!'_ the dragon realised.

"What? Seig's Willow?" Aria wondered.

_'She was so shy…she wouldn't even acknowledge me. ...But it wasn't just that…'_ Draigas muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

"Anyway," Latto broke across her muttering, "we should start walking back to school – give ourselves enough time to get back there."

Aria nodded, while digging out a Pokèball from her bag. "Normally, I'd be happy for you to stay outside, but…well, you can't exactly walk or fly to follow us, can you?"

_'No…'_

"Still, I can make sure you're comfortable – this is a Luxury ball; I brought a couple of them before starting here, and you definitely deserve one, Lazuli. Also, I can try and get to deep water every day to let you out for some training…"

_'Generous…'_ Lazuli said with a happy, content sigh before nudging the release on the Luxury ball, and disappearing in a burst of red light.

As the humans walked back, trailed by Draigas and Bandit, they had a short, light-hearted conversation.

"She's…rather eager to be captured…" Latto said carefully.

"What do you mean? Draigas explained-"

"She just relayed the message. To me, it sounds like Lazuli is too…willing…to have a chain around her neck."

"But-"

"It doesn't seem right. A Pokèmon is meant to fight for their freedom, so they can acknowledge their trainer as stronger than them…Lazuli just skipped straight to being captured."

"You just sound jealous that Lazuli didn't choose you," Aria said abruptly, starting to stride away.

Latto caught her, holding her shoulders to stop her from running away.

"Is that what you think of me?" he asked seriously, looking into her eyes.

Aria was suddenly ashamed – she knew she hadn't meant it.

"No…I was…"

"Letting yourself get carried away?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I suppose…" Aria looked away, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, "I was just kinda saying stuff…"

Latto smiled faintly. "Apology accepted. Just don't shout at anyone else, okay? If in doubt, keep your mouth shut."

"Good idea," Aria agreed.

_'I'll say,'_ Draigas said, curling around one of Aria's arms. _'That does include me, right?'_

"Of course it does, Draigas!" Aria said, hugging her close.

By now, the tall building of the school had drawn into view, and they distinctly heard the melodic chime of their bell.

"Last one there?" Aria asked mischievously.

Latto began running as she did, and easily pulled ahead, Bandit racing besides him. This gave Draigas an idea. Flowing swiftly over the ground, she lay herself in Latto's path, not quite tripping him up, but making him stumble and lose precious seconds, during which, Aria pulled ahead, madly dashing towards the building. She entered the open doorway with barely seconds to spare, with Latto arriving, panting, behind her.

With the exception of a few raised eyebrows, and a low muttering, no one seemed to acknowledge her. In a few minutes, they were dismissed for the morning – every morning, they were given free time to train, battle or study.

Aria quickly found the 'Beautifully Messed Up People' – Wraith, Ebony, Rhiannon, Tegeirian and Rydia. They decided to train by the sea, and along the way, Tegg and Nannon challenged Aria to a double battle, having learnt she'd caught a new Pokèmon.

This, Aria concluded, wasn't exactly fair – while the number of Pokèmon would be equal, she'd have to worry about twice as much as her friends. Latto obviously overheard, and shared that opinion.

"She'll need to have someone else on her team, Rhiannon," he told his cousin wearily.

"Fine then, Latto, why don't you team up with her?"

"Me?" he gave Aria an apologetic look. "I'm ridiculous at battling…"

"It's only a friendly battle – it doesn't matter whether we win or lose," Aria assured him.

They all arrived at the breezy sea's shore rather happy, refreshed and ready to battle. Aria threw the black ball high into the air, allowing a streak of red light to flash down to the sea.

"Lazuli, it's your first battle!" she announced happily.

The large Pokèmon floated on the surface of the water. _'It would be an honour.'_

Bandit ran out as near to the Lapras as he could without getting his feet wet. Layla, the black Poochyena pup bounded forwards, giving a canine grin at being on the beach with all these new and interesting smells. Finally, Nagas, Tegg's Ekans slithered out onto the battlefield.

All of them tensed, and then, as if by some unspoken and unseen command, they launched into a fast and furious battle.

"Lazuli, use Power Snow on Nagas!" Aria commanded quickly.

Lazuli obeyed without question, sending a flurry of fierce snowflakes at the snake-like Pokèmon.

"What was the point in that?" Rydia asked. "That snow's going to melt too quickly in this weather!"

True, the Ekans seemed unfazed by the attack, but when it tried to move, it was with a sluggish sleepy quality.

"It's a snake, so needs to bathe in the sun to get moving. If it gets too cold, it can't move!" Latto said, realising his partner's actions. "Okay, Bandit. Slash that pup!"

The Furret was a blur as it streaked towards the Poochyena, extending a clawed forepaw in readiness. Layla dodged to the side and seized Bandit in her powerful jaws, using them to bite down hard.

"Bandit!"

"Lazuli, help him out!"

Lazuli shot a weak stream of water at the black canine, which far from damaged it, but surprised it enough to slacken its jaw, and Bandit wriggled free. For good measure, he slashed Layla on the nose once free, which made her yelp and stagger backwards.

"Bandit, focus on Nagas!" Latto commanded.

The Furret seemed to quiver, yet did as instructed.

"Lazuli, use Power Snow again!"

While Lazuli made the Ekans sluggish yet again, Aria whispered, "Get Bandit to stand on Lazuli – then we can use surf."

"Okay. Bandit, take a swim!"

If Bandit was confused by the command, he didn't show it, instead diving straight into the ocean. Lazuli helped him up onto her back before carrying out Aria's unspoken command to attack.

A large, towering wave built up over the beach, crashing down on both the Ekans and the Poochyena. Nagas, deciding she'd had enough, simply fainted, leaving Tegg to recall her. Layla got to her feet, barking. Bandit dashed back onto dry land to fight furiously with the canine. No matter what he did though, he couldn't seem to gain the upper hand – Layla, through bites, scratches and the occasional command to use Iron Tail, or something similar, was clearly winning.

Sure enough, Bandit soon couldn't even stagger, and Latto was forced to withdraw him.

Aria's nerves started to emerge, she was now in a one-on-one battle in front of a crowd, and she was fully aware of that.

"Lazuli…use…"

Lazuli took it upon herself to finish the command, and shot a high power Water Gun at the canine.

Layla couldn't take it anymore, and staggered back to Nannon, gently licking her hand to ask forgiveness.

"You did your best, Layla," she assured her, before withdrawing her.

Aria breathed a sigh of relief – despite freezing up in the middle of that battle, they'd made it…with not a scratch on Lazuli, thanks to Bandit's distraction methods, she realised.

Aria smiled her thanks. All the little things...all the little memories. To some, they'd seem insignificant. But Aria treasured them all, including that tentative battle.

Since starting at Saralli Caira High, Aria knew she'd had a mixture of experiences, not all of them good, she'd admit. However, looking back, even at all the mistakes she'd made, she wouldn't have changed any of it. And the best thing, in her opinion, was the four years here yet to come…

* * *

Aria's sequence…ended! I'll start crying soon…anyway, I did the last four pages of this in a rush on Monday night (as some may tell from the late hour of uploading...), so please excuse the poor quality – I'll do better next time (and not wait 'til the end of my personal deadline next week!)

Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and to leave you in suspense, here's a teaser line from next chapter:

"Modified isolated strain 095-A (non-contagious) to be administered to test subject WI-110 along with morning doses."

If that's left you with your jaw open, thinking 'What on Earth…', then please send a review. If not, please, still send a review!


	11. Nightmare Illness

It's been two weeks since I last updated this! I feel ashamed! Admittedly, I have updated Regeneration (twice!) within the last week (one less thing to feel guilty about…), but…two weeks!

I'm now really nervous – it's time for Seig's sequence (crosses fingers)

I don't own Pokèmon.

* * *

The air in Saralli was extremely humid, taunting its inhabitants with the promise of cool, soothing rain, yet never fulfilling that promise. This made it very uncomfortable to live in, and so most of the island's people left their windows open, in the vain hope of capturing a stray breeze.

Seig was sleeping restlessly on this humid night, tossing and turning almost as much as the timid Espeon beside him. He'd been plagued by the same nightmare for years, although it had been a while since he had dreamt it last. The warm, heavy, still atmosphere reminded him – at least subconsciously – of a time when he'd been terminally ill.

It had been a humid summer when Sieg mysteriously fell ill. The best doctors on the island had been called, yet none had seen the disease before…they had all said, one way or another, that he should just live the rest of his short life as best as he could. And all were truly regretful that they could do nothing for the helpless, eight year old boy.

This was increasingly difficult the further the disease progressed. At first, it has seemed to do him good – he could outdo all his friends in any sport or game. But then, the crippling pains started. He couldn't walk then, without the aid of a crutch. This was when the doctors first became involved. To his friends, though, Seig explained it as an accident – a broken leg.

Then, Seig passed out randomly, and without any previous signs – he would just black out in the middle of a game, a class or even just while reading at home. After that, he wasn't allowed out any more – who knew when he could collapse and not be found for days?

This mystery illness developed a fever, and soon, Seig was confined to his bed, not just his house. This was when the doctors gave up hope…

The teenage, slumbering form of Seig shivered at this – he could remember, during one of his more contemplative moments, staring at the ceiling wondering what was beyond death. Would the pain vanish if he died?

His foster parents were almost sick with worry themselves – they'd fostered the boy after an emotionally painful miscarriage and they couldn't bear to lose someone they had grown to think of as their own son. They refused to give up, and eventually, they found the answer that would save Seig's life.

Seig remembered being so happy – he could live – yet even in his ecstatic state, he couldn't help but be unnerved.

This new doctor that his foster parents had found didn't seem warm and caring like the countless others he'd seen. This was a cold and calculating woman, who prodded and poked Seig and preformed countless tests on blood samples before his eyes. Seig had never been squeamish, but he held a firm belief that blood belonged inside its owner's body. True, the blood tests were necessary, but shouldn't they have been performed in some lab far away by some impersonal lab technician, only to know whose blood is was by a letter or code?

Finally, it seemed that she had run enough tests, as she declared that she would need to take Seig into their 'hospital's care unit'. Seig would have given anything to wish that he'd imagined the cruel smirk on her face as she'd said those words.

He soon found out what she meant. A cold-feeling, sterile room, with a hard, thin mattress on a metal-framed bed, filled with needles, scalpels and other fear-inducing instruments. By now, the disease forced him to slip in and out of consciousness regularly, and each time he came to, he felt a stab of fear. What if, next time, he never woke?

No windows, and only one plain door existed in the small room, making Seig feel claustrophobic during his rare conscious moments. Sometimes, a white dressed nurse or doctor would be there, checking his pulse with machines that – back then – he hadn't understood, or noting down figures on a clipboard they hung at the foot of his bed. None of them every tried to speak to him, and when he spoke to them, he was totally ignored.

It had only been interesting when two or more doctors were in the room, and they'd spoken to each other. Most of the time, he hadn't understood them, but their crisp, formal tone haunted his nightmares all the same.

"The boy has the 095-A strain of the virus," the woman had said coldly. "All we need to do is extract it. There's no need to refine it."

"W…what about the boy? We were told to find the relevant antibodies – make them if necessary…" the doctor had sounded young and nervous standing before the woman. Seig hadn't blamed him.

The woman had given Seig a cold, searching look, before reluctantly admitting, "I suppose if he _were_ to die here we'd be forced to file the paperwork…possibly be forced to suffer an investigation…fine, find a cure, then. Just don't waste all our resources on this waste of space."

And back into the blissful darkness Seig had sunk, yet again.

Conscious again – another day, and another medical conversation. The nervous doctor from the other day had come back, along with a female with blonde hair tied back in a tight bun.

"Okay, in theory, we should be able to take a blood sample and isolate the virus from that. But, we need to add the isolating agent to the sample within a few minutes of the blood leaving the host – Genwyn said something about it being because of the particular strain of virus…" the woman had explained tirelessly.

Seig, even in his half-asleep state, had noticed that the male doctor was far calmer around this woman than he had been around the cold, callous woman from before. He procured a needle, and suddenly, Seig had had his eyes closed voluntarily – he didn't want to see the blood leaving his body.

When he could safely open his eyes, he had seen them injecting a clear liquid into his crimson blood sample. After a few seconds, a dark surface had appeared.

"Tell them down at the lab to split into two groups – one can work on getting some suitable antibodies or something and the other can clean up the virus enough for reinfection. Remember our objective?" the blonde had asked sceptically – it had seemed she didn't think her partner _could_ remember it.

However, he had proved her wrong. "Yeah - Modified isolated strain 095-A (non-contagious) to be administered to test subject WI-110 along with morning doses. Who knows what she's planning, though…"

"Think about it carefully. The boy had a human case of Pokèrus. This may be the only strain of Pokèrus to mutate enough to affect humans. So, what effect would it have on a Pokèmon?" Now there had been a barely contained excitement in her voice – the thrill of the unknown.

"We'll never know unless we get the sample down to the lab," the doctor had said pointedly, slowly waving the blood in front of his partner's eyes.

She had quickly seized the sample, walking briskly out of the door, until all that could be heard was the clack of high heels down the corridor accompanied by rather clumsier footsteps.

Seig, alone again, had lost consciousness once again. When he had awoken this time, a young girl – she couldn't have been any older than nine – held a tray of food silently. She had looked odd to Seig's eyes – completely straight black hair, a pair of very dark eyes and a plain black dress that reached her ankles. No smile dared to show itself on her face, and her eyes seemed dull and empty. It had been quite a relief when she left Seig on his own.

After he'd had a few feeble bites of his food – which he had no appetite for – he fell asleep once more.

The next time he was awake, the first thing he noticed was a slight pain in his left shoulder. He had looked and small, yet visible, there was a tiny needle-point sized wound – had they cured him? It seemed like it, as he no longer fell unconsious, and they let him go back home later that day.

This is where the nightmare always shifted. Seig was no longer an eight-year old patient in a 'hospital' wing, but a scared, lonely, month-old Eevee cub without a name, only a code – WI-110. She'd been born in this complex and lived within its walls for all her short life, yet from the few other Pokèmon's lonely, mournful songs, she knew of the outside world – of lush green grass and delicate flowers, of fresh breezes and delicious scents they carried.

It had been unbearable – all her life she'd lived in a metal mesh cage within a boring, featureless room, without room to walk two paces without having to turn around. The small Eevee had been gnawing on her cage, wishfully hoping to break it, when the metal rod had come smashing into the cage, stunning her.

She had been dimly aware that a human wielded the metal rod, yet she had loathed that metal rod, and the metal rod only, with a passion. It had thwarted her every attempt to escape, giving a loud noise and – if she was unlucky – a stinging tap on the nose.

This time though, a wire loop had accompanied the metal rod, positioning itself firmly behind her neck, and no matter how much she had struggled and writhed she could not dislodge it. She ended up on her back – her neck completely exposed – panting and growling like a feral creature.

A thick-gloved hand had grabbed her roughly by the scruff of her neck, lifting her out of her metal prison. Another hand had approached her with a metal needle and she began to struggle wildly, snarling at the unreachable hands. She had been almost so preoccupied with fighting against her captors that she hadn't felt the prick of the needle, yet the small sharp pain enraged her all the more.

She had been dropped rather hastily back into the cage, with a soft thud, and just like that, she was unceremoniously imprisoned again.

The following weeks had been agony for the small, shivering creature who was not entirely sure she was an Eevee anymore. She had ached with every fibre of her being for a reason she didn't know, or understand. She now loathed herself – she didn't feel 'right' anymore. But more than anything, she was enraged at the humans who dared to do this to her.

Days turned into weeks of tireless movement and angry growls of frustration. Weeks turned into months, and the months dragged into years. Monotonous loneliness and hatred consumed her, until, six years after knowing nothing but that cruel metal mesh…

Both boy and Pokèmon woke with a start, each seeking the other in the darkened room. Willow leapt into her trainer's arms, burying herself deep into his chest. She never wanted to leave this wonder of a person who had shown her the only kindness in a human nature she'd ever seen.

Seig shook silently with tears – there was no way he would ever admit this to anyone else, but the nightmare always shook him to the point of tears. He couldn't even tell himself that it wasn't real – that it was all in his imagination – because he knew it'd happened, to both him, and to Willow.

"They can't get you, now, Willow…I won't let them," he promised tearfully.

'_I know,' _the psychic Pokèmon whispered. _'You'd never let that happen…' _

"I feel like such a wimp," Seig half-joked, wiping away a handful of tears.

'_I'm sorry,'_ Willow apologised. After a questioning look from Seig, she explained, _'I must be transmitting my dreams to you psychically…I can't control it while being asleep…'_

A few days ago, Willow had learnt a few psychic tricks after Seig had found a passage in a book. Among them, was the ability to transmit and read thoughts.

"Willow, I don't mind. It could help you, having someone who knows what you've been through."

'But…' 

Seig got up, out of bed and started to get dressed, not letting the Espeon argue. To be honest, he felt guilty – if he'd hadn't been treated at that place, Willow wouldn't have been infected…

Willow, sensing his thoughts, bristled and leapt in front of him, her form becoming spiky and yellow. She'd changed – from an Espeon to a Jolteon – yet Seig showed no surprise.

"Don't get too used to doing that, Willow," Seig reprimanded. "If they see you changing…"

Willow knew – they'd recapture her, at any cost. Who wouldn't want an Eevee that could evolve into any of the Eeveelutions? And it wasn't as if they could just avoid her previous captors, either…not when Seig went to school there. For the lab that Willow had been imprisoned in had been deep underground Saralli Caira High…

* * *

…Two weeks…and I have a shorter chapter than normal! I'm sorry, but it seemed a good place to leave it for this chapter… And if you're confused - don't worry too much, it'll become clearer in the next few chapters. Still feel free to ask questions, though - it'll probably remind me to add something next chapter that otherwise, I'd have forgotten about!

Thank you, Alaia Skyhawk, for reading this (and reviewing every single chapter – you rock!) Also, thanks to Ross – as he's provided lots of ideas for this, and the coming chapters. I hope Seig is all right! Also, Ross - I know you asked me to e-mail you the chapter first so you could look at it, but I couldn't find your e-mail address looking through the (many) different notebooks I have. I _know _it's in one of them...


	12. Conflict in Peace

I'm writing this while feeling awful – I have a pounding headache, a sore throat, an aching back and a blocked up nose. I should be sleeping (because writing isn't going to improve my headache…) but I just can't get to sleep past 10:30. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

As always, I own nothing except a couple of characters. I don't even own Seig, although technically, I own Willow's personality.

* * *

Seig dressed in casual, comfortable clothes while Willow admired her lilac form in the full-length mirror. She flicked her ears back with a slight tinge of disappointment. This body didn't fully feel like hers. She was far more comfortable in her unevolved state. But if she was seen to be an Eevee by any of the teachers at school, she had no idea how quickly she'd be recaptured.

"Come on, Willow – we don't want to be late," Seig called, spurring the Espeon to delicately pick her way across the carpeted floor towards Seig.

Seig managed to sneak out of the house without being seen by his foster parents – they had fussed over Willow every day for the past week since she evolved, without knowing anything more about her evolutions. Willow felt nervous around them – but then again, she was nervous around everyone except Seig. 

Some days, Seig would think about leaving the school just for Willow's sake, but when he followed the thought through, he knew that this would look too suspicious and they would never let him go without knowing a very good reason. They would never let him rest in peace.

Willow often heard his thoughts, and sometimes delved deeper into his mind, and while she wasn't happy at returning to the school every day, she knew Seig could do nothing about it. She also knew that she was safe with Seig.

That morning, during their couple of hours of free study, both Seig and Willow went to the library. Over the last couple of weeks Seig had researched Pokèrus and yet got no closer to finding out why the virus had infected him, or why it had affected Willow in this way. Today, Willow wanted to try a new strategy. 

'_You know how you can never find anything if you look for it?' _she asked her trainer psychically. _'Well, we should look up something completely different, and maybe we'll find something by accident.'_

"I know where we would find answers…but us trying to poke around the school's records would be asking for trouble…"

'_I'm not too sure that they even know…' _Willow muttered quietly. _'According to them, their experiment…me...was a failure. I didn't evolve at all until I met you. They evenshoved vile smelling stones at me… That's the reason I was put in with all the starter Pokèmon this year. It was the easiest way to get rid of 'the failure'.'_

Seig's face, and thoughts, became sombre and sympathetic. "Willow…"

'_Anyway, we're in here to study, aren't we?' _Willow said, falsely bright. _'What about studying psychic Pokèmon's abilities?'_

A bitter-sweet smile crept onto Seig's face – he knew Willow was trying not to worry him; she'd never wanted or liked sympathy.

"Well, it'd come in useful," Seig reasoned, selecting a thick, heavy tome off the dusty shelves hidden towards the back of the library.

He opened the leather bound cover on a nearby table and skim read the first couple of pages, before deciding that the book was 'too vague' and found a more specific – if just as heavy – book. Willow watched him reading with interest. She'd found that humans were more relaxed mentally when they were distracted by something like a book, and it was easier to read their thoughts. In this way, Willow – despite not being able to read herself – knew and understood every word on those pages.

The 'y'-forked tail swayed behind her as she 'read' the book.

_'Many psychic Pokèmon are able to levitate objects and people outside of battle, without calling on a technique… Other common abilities of psychic Pokèmon are: telepathy, being able to create illusions and influence the mind.'_

Seig looked at Willow with barely contained disbelief. 

"What do you think you could do?"

Willow did a universal gesture known to Pokèmon, which was a rough equivalent of a human shrug.

'_I can _try_ all of these…' _

Willow tapped into the part of her brain that made this form different to her other forms and focused. Seig dropped a pen on the floor for her to practise with. Willow focused, her dark violet eyes not straying from the fallen piece of stationary for a single second. The pen began to glow with the stray psychic power used and it slowly raised a miniscule height…until a shadow of a thought crossed Willow's mind, and everything stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Seig asked.

_'I just had a stray thought… It's a bit pointless to pick up a pen with psychic energy when it would take less time and effort to just pick it up and give it to you…'_

"The whole point of this is to practise…"

_'I know that, but when I'm focusing on the pen, I forget it… I want to try again.'_

And so the small Espeon spent most of the morning making objects levitate off the floor. At one point, the library itself was in danger as the bookshelves strained to leave the ground too, but Seig stopped Willow very hastily. Willow sheepishly explained that she'd been trying to get a book off the shelf, not the shelf off the floor, but had overdone it a little.

Once Willow felt confident in levitation, Seig turned back to the book again.

"What about…creating illusions?" he suggested.

The pen that had been used for practising levitation suddenly vanished.

'_Well, that's easy…'_ Willow said proudly. 

"What did you do?"

_'The pen is still there – try and touch it.'_

Seig did so, patting the floor near where the pen was supposed to be.

"It's just been hidden, it hasn't actually gone anywhere…" Seig muttered to himself.

_'Exactly. I'm basically just bending the light waves so that they don't touch the pen, but they touch the floor underneath. Pretty simple, really.'_ Seig frowned slightly – that was simple? He understood _why_ it worked fairly easily, but how can you manipulate light waves on an individual level and call it simple? Meanwhile, Willow was experimenting, not with making things disappear, but with making things appear.

She managed a vague Eevee shape before the bell went, destroying her concentration.

"Come on, Willow, dinner time."

'_I'm not hungry…' _Willow protested…before her stomach rumbled as if on cue.

"You've been working hard all morning – you deserve a rest. And a meal – we haven't had breakfast, remember?"

Willow sighed, jumping into Seig's arms to be carried to the dinner hall.

"And why do I need to carry you anywhere? You were fine walking this morning."

'_I feel safer here,' _she stubbornly insisted, and Seig knew she would not walk a step on her own right now.

In the dinner hall, Seig joined the short queue of people waiting for food, ending up behind Zero.

"Hey, Seig, where were you all morning? Zippo and I wanted a match!" Zero half-heartedly complained.

"We were in the library."

"Again? What are you looking for in there, the answer to life, the universe and everything? I'll save you a bit of time, it's forty-two."

"We're just studying," Seig said nonchalantly.

"Well, how about training tomorrow? Zippo verses Willow?" Zero suggested, getting a ladleful of a thick beige liquid on a plate with a bit of rice.

"Willow?" Seig asked, trying to select something from the counter that didn't have meat in it.

Willow purred in response – she was happy to fight.

Seig eventually choose a leafy salad and sat down with Zero, Haru and Fossil. Their Pokèmon had to get their own food – that was an unspoken and unwritten rule, but everyone knew it. Most of them, though, brought their food back to eat near their trainers. Willow almost seemed to shrink into the floor as she ate – Zippo the Dratini was peaceably eating on one side of her and Rolo the Phanpy ate on the other side. Nearby, though, all of Haru's strong Pokèmon were eating, and quite frankly, they all scared Willow.

Some days, they'd decide that she wasn't worth talking to; so then she was all right. But occasionally, one of them would get it into their heads that she was too much of a freak to be ignored, and would ask her questions until the end of lunch. Zippo and Rolo used to join in, but she'd won some respect when she'd beaten the both of themin a battle.

'_What the hell are you, anyway?' _the Staravia asked, training beady eyes on Willow.

'_An Espeon, the last time I checked,' _Willow said coldly, shaking slightly with fear – the Staravia was intimidating her and was at least twice her height.

'_You're no normal Espeon,' _Haru's Luxio growled, sparks dancing over his body.

'_You don't feel like a psychic type. You feel like a grass type to me,' _the Grovyle muttered.

'_No, I can feel thunder,' _Luxio argued.

'_I can feel water and ice,' _Floatzel input.

'_She feels like a normal type to me,' _Staravia argued, puffing up its chest.

'_You seem a bit confused, if you ask me,' _Willow muttered defiantly – yet her eyes didn't leave the floor. _'I shall leave you to your meal in peace.'_

Willow stalked off, making the food behind her 'disappear' in the process, drawing many angry and surprised growls from Haru's Pokèmon. 

Once the Espeon had found a comfortable corner, so she couldn't be snuck up on, she closed her eyes and meditated, feeling all the power she'd been using that morning just brimming under her smooth skin, waiting to be used.

She made an illusion of a Butterfree, flapping off, up into the ceiling. She then made flowers 'grow' from the floor around her, with all manner of bug Pokèmon swarming around them. Remarkably, she was unnoticed until Seig came to get her.

"Very pretty," he commented as the illusions disappeared.

'_It calms me down,' _she explained.

"Do they always pick on you?" Seig asked, referring to Haru's Pokèmon.

Willow's violet eyes grew wide – she didn't think Seig knew, he was normally busy talking to his friends.

'_Most of the time…' _she admitted.

"Right, I'll have a word with Haru. And don't try and keep these things all to yourself, Willow. I know I can't do everything, but I can be here for you to talk to."

True to his word, Seig did talk to Haru, the conversation being along the lines of: "your Pokèmon are becoming anti-social little yobs, so could you do more to control them?" 

Haru couldn't actually understand his Pokèmon, nor did he have any desire to learn, so he had no choice but to believe Seig and promised to do something about it. By this time, the bell had rung for their next set of lessons. These were inside, in the small lecture hall, where a teacher addressed the class for an hour or so on a topic. Today, the teacher was Mrs. Hurtz, and they were covering elemental weaknesses and strengths.

On this topic, the class was all over the place. Most knew basics like fire is good against grass but bad against water, yet only a few knew more complex and less commonly used types like ghost and psychic. Seig was one of them who knew more complex type match ups, and was quite bored throughout the lesson. He tried to guess who else knew this all already. 

Haru probably did, except for one or two type match ups…Aria seemed to, from the amount of questions she was answering correctly. Zero seemed to know a lot, but had a couple of types that he wasn't brilliant with.

Then there were people like Rhiannon, Tegeirian, Latto, Wraith and Ebony, who knew a good deal, but were clueless on some types. But worst by far was Fossil, who had yet to answer a single question correctly.

At the end of the lesson, they had a computerised quiz – everyone had a keypad with a, b, c and d as possible options to press. Mrs. Hurtz would call out type match ups and the pupils had to decide whether the match up was either effective, not very effective, normal or no damage would occur. 

The quiz started with easy match ups.

"Water attacking Ground."

After five of the easier match ups, more complex ones were added.

"Fire attacking Dragon."

"Bug attacking Psychic."

And then, she started on duel types.

"Electric attacking water and ground."

"Fire attacking grass and water."

At the end of the fifteen-question quiz, everyone's results were displayed on an electronic leader board at the front of the class.

Seig came first, with a score of fourteen. Aria and Haru had a very close joint second, with thirteen. Wraith came next, with a respectable twelve. Then Zero, Ebony, Rhiannon and Tegeirian with eleven. Latto seemed embarrassed at his score of ten – his cousin had beaten him again… Finally, Fossil's name crept up near the bottom, with two.

This ended the first hour of the lesson, and they then got Mr. Harrier for the second hour.

He handed out some photocopied pictures of ancient woodcarvings to the class. 

"Does anyone know what these are?"

Aria's hand went up slowly.

"Yes?"

Her voice trembled slightly. "Aren't they the woodcarvings found in the caves of Sunnyfoam island?"

"Very good. Not many people from Saralli even know about a small island like that."

"I've read a lot of books on travelling, sir."

"Anyway, according to recent research, these carvings were made over a thousand years ago."

At this, Seig had a sudden thought and raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"If they're a thousand years old, wouldn't the wood have rotted by now?"

"We believe that a legendary Pokèmon preserved the carvings for this long. Now, if we look at the carvings themselves…"

There was a general rustling of paper in the lecture hall, as thirty odd pupils found their copies of the sheet.

"What Pokèmon can we see in the carvings?" 

A few hands went up.

"Pasqua the Miner?"

Everyone groaned at the nickname – Pasqua's last name was Minore.

"There's Celebi!"

It was true – in the background – Celebi was fluttering around.

After a few minutes, they had managed to spot a whole myriad of Legendary Pokèmon in the intricately carved wood. Some were cleverly disguised as part of the background and it took a keen eye to pick them out.

"Most scholars believe that this was an ancient record of the legendary Pokèmon, and that the way in which the carving is arranged tells a story. However, the means to read this story have become lost over time, and so we can only wonder at what it says."

Seig looked at the carving again – there appeared to be runes on the edge of the carving, or some form of ancient language at least. And the picture itself – Raiku fought against Zapdos up in the clouds, while Suicune danced on the surface of a lake to dodge Articuno, and Entei, along with Moltres, clashed atop an erupting volcano. Great metal monstrosities rose around Registeel, spikes of ice and rock crashed near Regice and Regirock. Even the peaceful looking Celebi seemed to be engaged in a psychic war with Mew.

'_It's the world at war with itself,' _Willow explained. _'From what little I know, this never actually happened, it's a metaphor for war. The legendaries themselves have never fought like this, if anything, it was mankind. And then, an impartial race of people created this, so that humans would never glorify war again. The legendaries obviously approved of this, so preserved their message for all time. Or at least, that's what I think. Pokèmon don't really know, either.'_

The bell shook the class out of their stunned silence – everyone was studying the picture in one way or another and it had made an imprint on everyone.

"Class dismissed."

Stunned though they were, the class wasted no time in throwing books in their bags so that they could head home.

As Seig and Willow exited the building – Willow in Seig's arms, as per usual – Willow suddenly flattened her ears, ducked her head down, coiled her tail around her and pressed her small body into Seig chest. She was making herself as small and unnoticeable as possible, and Seig was about to ask why – when he saw the obvious reason.

The woman – the first 'doctor' from the lab to come and see him. The one who had only kept him alive for the sake of not attracting suspicion. A nervous shiver travelled through his body, and he walked briskly past her, not making eye contact. It was probably his imagination, but her very face had a cruel, haughty expression on it, as if it had once been deceptively beautifully, but decades of time had – thankfully – taken that advantage away from her.

Seig quickly caught up with Haru, reassuring Willow the whole time.

"Who was that woman at the door?" he asked quietly. He didn't know why he was being quiet – she was well out of earshot.

"Naois Genwyn," he muttered – and there was a hint of venom in his voice. "She teaches PSHE once a month."

Seig was utterly shocked. That…creature, teaching morals? 

"You don't seem to like her, Haru," Seig said slowly.

"That bitch apparently made life hard for my father. She's doing the same to me, and if she gets the chance, Aria and her mother, too."

Seig nodded understandingly. "What does everyone else think of her?"

"That she's the centre of the universe…a 'brilliant' teacher. The stupid thing is, none of us can do anything against her without facing expulsion. While Griff is seen to be the big boss around here, Genwyn holds the money, so she also has all the power in the school."

"How do you know?"

"Two years of not listening to teachers lands you in detention more times than you can count. And it's amazing what teachers will say if they think no one is listening…"

Seig filed all this away in his head for future reference – he had a feeling it would be very useful soon.

Seig split off the main road to take a smaller, winding path to his house, leaving Haru behind.

'_Genwyn seemed to have all the power in the lab, too,' _Willow muttered in a wavering psychic voice. _'She never did the dirty work herself, but gave all the orders – which were always carried out to the letter. Even her subordinates spoke ill of her.'_

"She's really dangerous, then. We'll just have to keep our guard up, won't we?"

Willow nodded.

"Good. Now we have to get our own dinner tonight – Monica and Harry are still at work until eight."

Monica and Harry were Seig's foster parents. Monica was a secretary for a small company in the only city on the island, Elli, and Harry was a bus driver. Seig never called them Mum or Dad – it just didn't feel right.

Willow and Seig made a vegetable stir-fry for dinner and then went outside to train until it began to grow dark. When Monica and Harry came back, they had a light conversation about nothing in particular until Seig went upstairs to bed. In his room, a long, thin bladed sword caught his attention, just as it always did. It had belonged to his grandfather, but he'd inherited it, with his parent's dead…

He lightly traced the shiny, smooth metal with a finger – he could almost hear the blade's disappointment at not being used. Seig had tried to use the sword once, but the blade was far too long and far too heavy – he'd almost ended up slicing off part of his foot. He wanted to learn swordplay, if only to give the blade some use, but as far as he knew, there was no one on the island who could teach him. 

With a reluctant sigh, he got into bed, and prepared himself for another night's nightmare.

* * *

One thing I want to draw attention to, in case the place names are confusing anyone. Saralli is the name of the island, Elli is the biggest settlement on the island (in no way related to _Llan_elli, sometimes argued by certain geography teachers to be the centre of the known universe…), Caira is another settlement on the island, a fairly small village which most of the pupils either live in or near to, and Saralli Caira High is the school's name, as it is on the island of Saralli, and nearest to the village of Caira.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! 


	13. The Last Day of Snow

So, I haven't done any typing on this since the days when I was ill…nice to know…I suddenly feel really guilty – all my free h

So, I haven't done any typing on this since the days when I was ill…nice to know…I suddenly feel really guilty – all my free hours at Grandma's (where I originally planned to write a LOT) got swallowed up by watching just about every single Fullmetal Alchemist episode on DVD… And when I wasn't watching FMA, I was writing a little oneshot…and a not so little oneshot. But the good news – the little oneshot seems to be quite popular! And I haven't posted (or finished) the other oneshot yet.

(sigh) I don't own Pokèmon…or anything else I may mention.

* * *

Seig woke up early that morning – for once he hadn't been troubled by his and Willow's joint nightmare, and had had a good night's sleep because of this. To his surprise, Willow was still in her Espeon form, so either she had learnt to control her transmitted dreams or she'd not had the nightmare. Willow seemed to be slumbering soundly, so he assumed she just hadn't had the nightmare, and got dressed silently.

He was just packing a few essential supplies into his bag when Willow awoke. She staggered up to her feet, then appeared to bow as she stretched her back muscles and legs. She gave a small, vulpine yawn and smiled up at Seig.

"Sleep well?" he asked quietly – his foster parents may still be asleep, and between him and Willow, he wanted them to stay asleep.

Willow nodded. _'Yes…I think I needed that…' _

"Me too," Seig agreed, before sighing. "Willow, we're going to try and sneak out of the house today…"

'_Unlike normal,' _she said sarcastically. _'What's our reason this time?'_

"My birthday, which is this weekend. Monica and Harry…Monica especially…always goes over the top, and I don't want to give them the chance."

'_Good luck with that,' _the small Espeon said, knowing Seig didn't stand a chance.

Seig tiptoed out of the door, closely followed by Willow, who could silently pad behind him. Down the wooden floored corridor – watch for the creaky floorboards, Seig warned himself as he took odd sized steps to avoid them – creep down lushly carpeted stairs without a problem and sneak around the back of the kitchen, grabbing a piece of fruit on the way out…

"Seig! Good morning!" Monica chirped at the sight of his hand.

Seig sighed – so much for that idea!

"Morning…" he greeted reluctantly. "Hey, where's Harry?" he wondered, noting his foster father was unusually absent at the breakfast table.

"Upstairs – having a shower," she answered quickly. "Anyway, I couldn't help noticing that it's your birthday in three days…"

"I bet you couldn't…" Seig muttered. "Look, I don't want anything big, or grand, or extravagant – just a few friends round for a _small _party."

"Okay, okay," she said, but she had an excited gleam in her eyes which more than likely meant that she had a different idea of 'small' to Seig.

"I mean it!" Seig said, trying to keep a stern face on and failing.

"Look, I had the idea – because your school is pretty small, and you haven't really had a chance to know everyone yet, why don't you invite your whole year?"

Seig supposed it could have been worse – Monica hadn't got the idea of inviting the whole school yet, and he didn't plan on giving her the chance to.

"Yeah, that's okay, and sorry, but Willow and I have really got to get going," Seig lied.

"Alright, bye, Seig – we'll see you when we get home!"

Seig dashed outside…and let out his breath.

'_So much for that idea,' _Willow said, smiling at Seig's comical failure.

"Please let her be more restrained than last year…" Seig muttered to himself.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at Saralli Caira High, slightly earlier than normal, but content to wander around near the main building for a while until someone else arrived. As it happened, Zero, with Zippo the Dratini, arrived early too.

Willow curled up in Seig's arms while the two boys talked. She liked being up there – not only did it promise safety, but it was also warm, and gave her a higher perspective.

"Hey, we said we were going to have that battle today, right?" Zero said with a grin. "Better do it now before you go back to the library again!"

"Alright, one on one single match, Willow verses Zippo," Seig agreed.

"Go, Zippo! Let's show Seig what you can't learn from a book!"

"Come on, Willow. In return, why don't we show him what books can teach?"

Willow gracefully leapt from her perch to land, cat-like, on the ground. Zippo shot forward to face her.

"Willow, confusion."

Bright, eerie lights surrounded the dragon, and no matter how frantically he moved, he couldn't escape from them, and eventually became dazzled by them.

"No, Zippo! Fight it off!"

It didn't help; the dragon moved around sluggishly, almost as if drunk.

"Willow, keep him off balance, don't let him recover."

Willow gathered all of her speed and energy, then, swiftly, a purple blur darted forward, scratching the incapacitated Dratini with well-hidden claws. Again and again, she rushed the creature, tackling it to the ground, scratching it, biting it until it looked bruised and battered, not to mention filthy from the dry, dusty ground.

Yet, the powder blue dragon still moved, ready to fight, and he no longer seemed to be distracted by the psychically projected lights. He growled, shooting luminous blue flames at the lilac Pokémon, which, despite her speed, hit her directly, drawing out a yelp of pain.

"Willow, confusion again!"

The Espeon paused, focusing with her mind again, but the Dratini wasn't stupid enough to take it for a second time and shot forward, roughly shoving her to the ground and breaking her concentration.

Willow sprang to her paws, snarling, with the little bit of fur she had standing up, her back arched like an angered cat. Her whole body glowed briefly, before shooting out a myriad of tiny golden stars that slammed into every inch of Zippo's body, forcing him to the ground, where he stayed, feebly moving – alive, but not with enough energy to fight back.

"Espeon wins," came a voice that didn't belong to Zero or Seig. It belonged to a certain half-zora who had obviously been watching the fight for some time now.

"Morning, Haru," Seig greeted, while allowing Willow to jump back into her comfortable perch in his arms, licking away a scratch on one of her forepaws.

'_I have a name…' _Willow muttered, slightly resentful.

Zero gingerly scooped up Zippo, who was blearily muttering something about hell and how it doesn't compare to the fury of a woman scorned… The three boys entered the main building, getting Zippo, and then Willow healed by Mrs. Hurtz. It wasn't long until the bell went, with all the pupils inside the main room to register before heading back outside to train.

In Saralli Caira High, pupils weren't forced into doing any particular thing – during their morning sessions, where they could freely roam outside, they could track down a Pokémon, train, engage in a friendly fight against a friend, practise contest moves or just explore. In the afternoon lessons, while it was encouraged and widely expected that the pupils would turn up and listen, they had no written tasks, and no homework afterwards.

Seig spent his morning session – for the first time in ages – outside, exploring with Zero, Haru and Fossil, telling everyone in his year that they came across about his impending birthday party.

By lunchtime, they reckoned they'd told everyone, and Seig was completely anxious about his birthday from think about it so much.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Zero asked, in an attempt to cheer him up.

"Monica could suddenly and conveniently find the baby photographs…like last year…" Seig sighed, taking a slow bite of his sandwich. "Or she could show that video of the time I fell over during school's play…Or the time when I slammed into the sliding glass door – I'm pretty sure she has pictures somewhere…"

And so it was with a general sense of impending doom that Seig looked forward to the coming weekend.

However, something would happen in the coming lesson that would distract him from all thoughts of the weekend. Mrs. Picka was teaching them about different landscapes and the effects that they could have on battles and travelling. She reached for her board pen to scribble down a note…but then it moved. Not by much, only a few inches across the desk, but enough to make her do a double take.

Seig frowned at Willow – he could sense psychic power at work here – but Willow repeatedly assured him that it wasn't her. Seig scanned the lecture hall – Willow was one of three psychic Pokémon in the hall, the other two being an Kadabra whom belonged to a girl in the fourth year, and a Gardevoir belonging to a boy in the second year.

Willow told him that it definitely wasn't them – in fact, the source of the psychic power wasn't a Pokémon at all. This meant that, though it seemed impossible, this was the work of a human. Willow tried to read the minds of all the pupils there, but with around fifty humans all thinking different things, some of which were not related to the class at all, Willow had no answer.

Several more psychically created pranks were pulled off, along with the teacher's notes mysteriously vanishing and the teacher clumsily tripping over every five seconds for a minute solid.

By the end of the hour, Mrs. Picka was seriously unnerved and muttered something about needing a payrise as she walked out gratefully.

No psychic pranks befell the next teacher, Mrs. Hurtz, although she looked nervous – obviously Mrs. Picka had told her about her lesson. By the end of the two hours, the class was buzzing with curiosity about who or what had done this, and the lecture hall had exploded with a mixture of noises – some hushed and slightly fearful, while others were loud and cheerful. It seemed that no matter how good a school's teachers were, there was always some animosity between teachers and students, and some people had enjoyed the invisible trickster.

In fact, this soon became the most thoroughly discussed topic in the school, from who they thought could be capable of doing this to what the trickster would do next time. It was the very last lesson on Friday when Mrs. Picka next taught, and the whole class was waiting with baited breath.

They weren't disappointed, either…

At first, things had gone as normal, and Mrs. Picka had – foolishly – allowed her to relax as she wrote on the whiteboard some valuable tips should you ever find yourself lost in a desert. She suddenly screamed – a creature, not unlike an Ariados appeared to creep across the floor with jerky movements – she had an intense fear of Bug-type Pokémon, it seemed.

When at last she calmed down – she was screaming frantically – and returned to teaching, she noticed a mistake on the board – she'd spelt 'desert' with two 's', and tried to rub the extra letter out…which proved pointless, as the pen's ink refused to rub out.

The rumours started at a low whisper, which quickly spread like wildfire through the class and generally accumulated to the knowledge that Mrs. Picka had written on the board with permanent marker. When she heard this herself, she collapsed despondently into her chair – and promptly shrieked as the back two legs of the chair snapped and she fell back onto the hard floor with a thump. She ran out of the room, being to cry – obviously very shaken by these events.

They were sent home early because of this, but it was only by half an hour. It made no difference to Seig – he told everyone that he'd see them tomorrow for the party…then spent the night dreading the following morning. Monica just didn't _do _things on a small scale – he'd spent almost eight years of his life finding that out.

Perhaps it was no surprise that he had the nightmare that night – either it was through nerves or it was some premonition – either way, he woke up in an uneasy mood. The sky outside was as blue as ever on this tropical island, and the sun was already warming Seig's room through the window. Willow was curled up in a ray of sunshine in a feline manner.

Seig looked at his face in the mirror. He was a year older – he was fifteen. He didn't feel it, and he would be more than happy to pretend that this was just a normal day. So what was all the fuss about?

Willow stretched in the sunlight, before noting that her trainer was up already and slinked into the bathroom to find him looking at the mirror.

'_No wrinkles yet,' _she joked, watching him slip out of his thoughtful trance. _'Happy birthday.'_

"Willow? Do you remember when you were born?"

_'Of course not – I was taken away from the only person who could have told me when I was very young…too young to remember.'_

"Then…I want you to share my birthday. Today's a holy day for some people – did you know that? A day when the Legendary Pokémon of ice are said to begin their slumber, or journey far north. The weather starts getting warmer from now on and the days get longer. _Nevefinagiorno_. _Schneendetag_. _Eiradarfoddydd_. It's called something different in different places…they all roughly translate to 'the day the snow ends'. Not that we ever see any snow here, Willow…"

Willow glowed faintly, her body becoming a delicate shade of blue. Gently, in the small room, it began to snow, small flakes fluttering down from the ceiling, swirling around Seig and Willow. Seig stretched out a finger to watch a flake flutter down, sending a brief cold chill through the digit, before melting.

They enjoyed the white miracle in silence, until Seig realised that his feet – completely bare – were completely numb from the cold inch of snow on his bedroom floor. It was then that the full gravity of the situation hit him.

"How do I explain this one? Sorry, Monica, there was a freak blizzard in my bedroom isn't quite…believable in this part of the world…"

'_I'll take care of it,' _Willow promised. _'Just open the window.' _

The snow was already melting because of the sun through the window, but the now Flareon-formed Willow used Sunny Day to intensify the sun's rays. Very soon, the floor was steaming, and Seig turned on the dehumidifier in his room to extract the water that wasn't being lost out of the window.

_'Maybe that wasn't the best idea…'_ she admitted.

"It was nice though…I'd never seen snow before. Thank you."

'_No problem, birthday boy,'_ Willow teased, taking her Espeon form again. _'Come on, we'd better get downstairs – we don't want to deprive Monica of the chance of embarrassing you…'_

Seig sighed, padding downstairs with Willow close behind. Or so he thought. In actual fact, Willow stayed at the top of the stairs until she was level with Seig's head, and then with a slight smirk, she launched herself onto his shoulder, scaring Seig to death.

_'Wow…it's surprisingly comfy here…'_

"Willow…"

_'Happy birthday.'_

Monica had cooked them breakfast – pancakes, as a birthday treat. Seig sat down, warily looking around the kitchen – Harry was lost in a flurry of activity, which tended not to bode well…

People arrived in twos and threes, but the first thing _everyone _asked as soon as they got there was: what was that large thing out the front of the house?

Seig paled and shot out of the house to see that there was a huge billboard-like structure covered by a white sheet.

By this time everyone had gathered outside, and were wondering what exactly this was all about in hushed voices.

"Boys and girls, welcome to Seig's birthday party!" Monica shouted into a portable microphone, much to Seig's embarrassment.

Seig groaned and suddenly wished he were invisible.

"But first, I give you…" Monica tugged the cloth off the billboard in one fluid movement. On the billboard was a blown up picture of Seig and Willow. "Seig, who just turned fifteen today! Isn't he handsome?"

Seig hid his face in his hands, in a futile attempt to fight the fierce red blush on his face.

"At least it wasn't the baby pictures, this time," he muttered with false optimism.

The billboard fell face down due to Willow's psychic power.

'_Happy now?' _she asked.

"I will be once I get my hands on Monica," he growled ominously.

'_Well, leave it for another day, okay – you don't want to spoil your birthday…'_

"_Our_ birthday, don't you mean," he corrected with a grin.

Willow's eyes lit up with a nameless, indescribable joy. The moment was short-lived, though, as Zero (who had been calling him for what seemed like forever) physically dragged him into the madness.

Whenever Seig looked back on his birthday, he'd always remember colour, and very little else. The grass seemed a little greener than normal, the sky a little bluer, the sun a bit brighter. And that was just the natural colour. His friends and their Pokèmon seemed to – between them – cover every colour of the rainbow. He was handed multicoloured boxes – presents, along with the greeting of 'Happy Birthday'.

Willow would remember it differently. She would remember huddling into Seig's arms, not fully trusting the large crowd. She'd remember whispered insults and taunts until she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't remember the exact moment she'd left Seig's arms – it was lost in a fuzzy, crimson, angry haze. She could remember snarling at the offending Pokèmon – Haru's Staravia, and issuing a challenge, before stalking off through the thick undergrowth wildly growing near the back of Seig's house.

One of the advantages of living on an island was that no matter what direction you started going in, sooner or later, you'd find the sea. Seig's house was a fairly short distance away from a long stretch of beach, and it was here that Willow made her stand.

To her surprise, it wasn't only the Staravia that came. All the Pokèmon at the party had followed, meaning a large crowd was watching curiously, making what Willow was about to do far more difficult.

'_If _anyone _has a problem with me, now's the time to settle it,' _she growled. _'After today, I don't want to hear another word about me being strange, or different…okay? So whatever problem you have, get it over and done with now.'_

Zippo, Zero's Dratini, was the first to move.

_'You are different, true, but there's got to be a reason why. You've never told us the reason why, which isn't like you – you're normally really honest. So, there must be a really important reason for keeping it secret. I can't fight you because of that.'_

Zippo took a stance behind Willow, as Draigas began to move.

_'Like he said – you're different. It's just taken me until now to realise that different can be bad or good…or neither. I've seen more different things than you, Willow, and you're a good kind of different.'_

Lazuli was serenely floating in the sea, and drifted towards Willow's side.

'_I believe this is what Aria would want me to do,' _she explained simply.

Draigas smiled. _'Don't ask her for an opinion of her own, by the way. It's almost like she has no choice but to obey Aria…it's quite scary sometimes…'_

Now, Pokémon were coming over to Willow's side without needing to justify themselves – Sirius, Wraith's Eevee for one. Dashita plodded slowly over, too.

Haru's Pokémon eyed them mistrustfully – how could they go against what their inner natures must be telling them? To leave, get as far away from the unnatural creature as quickly as possible.

They glared at those left undecided, as if daring them to side with Willow. Rolo happily joined their side, despite protests from Willow's side. Rolo merely gave them a mocking bow with her trunk, along with what constituted as a Pokémon smirk.

Willow, and those supporting her turned their gaze to the remaining neutral Pokémon.

'_If you think I'm going to get myself involved in this,' _Naga started disdainfully, then turned her back and slithered away.

Jet, Rydia's Zubat, and Phoenix, the Vulpix followed suit, slinking off back into the forest, back towards the humans. Layla, the overactive black bundle of fur known as a young Poochyena, looked torn for a moment, before following them, taking the distance between them at a trot.

The Staravia gave Willow and her followers a foul glare.

_'Last chance if you want to wimp out. Willow's a freak, but you don't need to be tarred with the same brush.'_

'_We'll stay right here,' _Sirius snarled, his hackles rising.

_'Fine. Then prepare to battle!'_

* * *

Sorry, peeps, but I couldn't resist Monica behaving…like a _certain_ anime character…. Some of you will get the reference, and no doubt, some people won't, but don't worry about it. It's not a major point. And sorry, also for the snail-like update – like I said, blame Fullmetal Alchemist and homework. And me, I guess…

Please review? It might make me type faster…okay, it'll definitely make me type faster, especially if I have some nice, positive remarks (you can criticise if you like…just don't say miaw, or I'll have a nervous breakdown…long story…).


	14. A Brilliant Birthday

* * *

Yes, I'm back. I'm actually doing something on fanfiction. (This is just to clarify that I haven't died and let my ghost run rampant on fanfiction…)

Do you really think I own Pokémon? Hah, I wish!

* * *

Humans milled around the party aimlessly – all except Seig. He was not completely sure when he noticed that Willow was missing, but when he did, a small cold hand of fear gripped his heart. None of the other Pokémon were there, either.

He looked around, ever so slightly panicked. Until he saw Layla, the Poochyena pup demanding Rhiannon's attention. Rhiannon frowned, and repeated – just loud enough for Seig to hear – "Willow's done what?"

He must have seemed calm on the outside, yet he was internally fearing the worst. Approaching the girl, he asked, "What's happened?"

Rhiannon shrugged. "I think they've started a massive battle on the sea shore – I'm not sure though…"

And just like that, Seig was off like a shot in the direction of the beach. After a few puzzled seconds, most of the other humans followed him.

He fought his way through the thick undergrowth, gaining more than a few scratches on his arms and legs, but he hardly noticed. All he needed was to know that Willow was alright.

As the beach came into view, he could easily see it was chaos. Pokémon without direction from their trainers tended to be very messy in fights – too busy fighting to think about what they were doing. Both sides seemed to be fighting tooth and claw, and were evenly matched.

Far off, Seig spotted Willow, an agile purple blur skirting around Rolo, trying desperately not to get hit by Rollout while still trying to use a move of her own. With a yell, Seig ran, scooping Willow up and out of harms way. A second later, Rolo collided with Seig's right leg, resulting in a heavy, echoing crack. The boy crumpled, still keeping Willow safe by some unknown instinct.

Seig could not breath – he was winded by the fall – but that seemed utterly insignificant in the light of the intense pain in his leg. The world was blacked out in a haze of pain.

'_Seig!'_ Willow shouted psychically.

Miraculously, the other Pokémon had stopped battling when Seig had got hurt, and looked on in horror. Humans just weren't supposed to get hurt in Pokémon battles – it went against every instinct they had.

The other humans rushed on the scene – in Haru's case, recalling his Pokémon – before surrounding the injured Seig.

"Are you alright?" Zero asked.

Seig groaned – the fact that he was on the floor, clutching his leg in pain was no indication? "I think Rolo's broken my leg," he answered sharply.

Fossil looked at Rolo. The Phanpy gave a cute shrug, before recalling herself in a flash of red light.

Willow growled under her breath at Rolo's retreat, before turning her attention to her human trainer.

'_Hold still,'_ she said, and a psychic glow appeared around Seig's leg.

"Have you healed it?" Seig wondered, when his leg no longer hurt.

'I only numbed the pain. It's a type of illusion. I couldn't have healed it - I might have done it wrongly, and it would have just broken again.'

Seig nodded, then noticed his friends. "Well? Aren't you going to help?"

Everyone managed to look sheepish and mumble a reply. In the end, Haru and Zero helped him up, each one supporting one of his arms and most of his weight. Together, they managed to limp slowly in a grotesque impression of a 'four-legged' race. While it didn't hurt due to Willow's 'illusion', they were deathly afraid of jarring it. Eventually, they managed to get back to Seig's house, only to be attacked by Monica.

"Seig, what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

Seig sighed. "I might have broken my leg. That's it."

"We have to get you to the hospital!" Monica exclaimed.

Seig's expression was struck with horror, and Willow pressed her delicate frame as close to her trainer as she could.

"Hospital?" Seig asked, keeping the fear out of his voice for the most part.

Understandably, Seig was not fond of hospitals. They always reminded him of the illness he had had, and instinctively, he knew Willow felt the same way.

"Well, your leg needs to be strapped in place, or it could heal crooked," Monica explained gently. "Or not at all."

"Um, if Seig doesn't want to go to the hospital, couldn't you get a doctor out here?" Zero asked.

As this was the first sensible thing anyone could remember Zero saying, they were surprised, but acted on the advice. Ten minutes later, the doctor arrived – a seemingly kindly old man, who had seen his fair share of Pokémon-related accidents.

As he set Seig's leg, he recounted a tale from his earlier days as a doctor. "You know, you're going to laugh, but there was this guy who was completely unconscious when he got brought into the hospital – we had no idea what had happened. We tried remedies for everything – blunt trauma, hypnosis, any other sleep inducing moves, but nothing worked."

"So, what happened?" Seig wondered, trying to ignore his leg being forced back into alignment.

"Well, we checked his medical record, and apparently he had got a pacemaker a few months previously, and he's this big Pachirisu breeder, right? Well, by the time we realised this-"

Seig frowned. "I thought you said this was a funny story."

"Oh, yes, absolutely. Dreadfully funny. As I was saying, the post mortem revealed-"

"I'm sorry," Seig muttered abruptly, cutting off the doctor, "Could you just focus on fixing my leg?"

To be honest, Seig was starting to wonder if all the doctors on the island were sadistic, or whether it was just his bad luck to encounter them all.

It wasn't long before Seig's leg was strapped up and the doctor sent swiftly packing. Seig was limping with his leg in a cast for almost three months, but luckily, nothing incredibly important happened, due to a freak inspiration dry up from the almighty deity which ruled that world.

After those three months, however, an event was to happen, which would change everything forever...

* * *

It's short. It's massively overdue. And it feels slapdash. But, I'm ending it there, with the promise of another chapter soon…honest…

Anyway, leave me a review, make me happy? It would help me to not abandon this again, honest…

Next time, on Saralli Caira High: As the school stared at the tropical waters ahead, they all knew that this would be no ordinary field trip…


End file.
